Uzumaki Reunion
by Ability King KK
Summary: After meeting with a certain blond Hokage, Terumi Mei finds out that someone from her past is still alive.
1. Family Found

**The idea for this fic came from after reading a fic a while back that had a similar idea. This fic is my own take on the idea.**

**-:-**

Kirigakure, currently known to others as the Village of the Bloody Mist, was a mysterious village to all outsiders. It was like this because of the current Mizukage, Yagura. This story though is not about Yagura. This story is about a certain redheaded woman.

"Mei-san, we need t head to the village gates so we can escort the oncoming guests to the Mizukage's office," said a blue-grey-haired man with an eye patch over his right eye. He was also wearing two talisman seals as earrings.

"Must we, Ao? It is probably no one important," replied a beautiful redheaded woman with green eyes.

"…You do remember that it's the Hokage that is coming, right?"

"It is? Then let us go before Yagura gets impatient."

Ao let out a sigh as he followed Mei out of the building and towards the gates. When they reached the gates, they saw two Konohagakure ANBU, one wearing a dog mask and the other a tiger mask, and the Hokage, who in Mei's opinion was a very handsome man.

"Are you Namikaze Minato?" questioned Ao, making sure that this was indeed the Hokage.

"I am. I am hear to speak business with the Mizukage," replied Minato.

Ao nodded his head, sensing that the man before him was not lying. "Very well then. Follow us and we shall escort you to the Mizukage's office."

As the group walked towards the Mizukage Tower, Mei's thoughts turned to the blond man who looked to be about her age. She would definitely have to talk to him before he left.

-:-

Later in the day, Minato was done with his meeting with the Mizukage. Because it was late in the day, Minato and his ANBU were allowed to stay in Kirigakure for the night. They were reluctant to take the offer, due to the village's history, but took it anyway. It was that evening that Mei made her move.

She walked down the hall to the room Minato was staying in and knocked on the door. The door opened and a confused looking Minato greeted her.

"Mei-san?"

"Hello, Minato-kun. You can call me 'Mei-chan' you know. May I come in?" asked Mei, giving a warm smile.

Minato raised an eyebrow in question, but stepped aside to let her in nonetheless. He was taught that it was rude to leave a lady waiting after all. He became even more confused when she sat on the bed, crossing her legs in the process.

"Ano, is there something you need?" asked Minato.

"In a way. I just wanted to get to know you."

"…That's why you're here in the middle of the night?"

"It was the only time I could get the chance to talk to you, Minato-kun, as we are both very busy and you will most likely be leaving tomorrow," answered Mei.

"Well you have a point there. What do you want to know?" asked Minato, staying on guard just in case there is an alterative motive.

The two talked well into the night, learning about each other, granted that the two did keep some things secret from each other, like their pasts. It was around two o'clock in the morning when Minato noticed how late it was.

"Mei-chan, seeing as it is late, would you like me to escort you back to your room?"

"How chivalrous of you, Minato-kun. Though I was thinking I could stay here with you?" said Mei, giving him a sultry smile now.

Minato blushed a deep red. So she did have an alterative motive, just not the kind he thought it'd be.

"I'm flattered, Mei-chan, but I'd have to declined. It wouldn't be right seeing as how I am married."

"…Nani? You're married?" questioned Mei, her mouth forming a frown. She had a feeling it'd be too good to be true.

"Hai. If Kushina ever thought I would cheat on her, it'd be hell on earth for everyone."

Mei froze at the name Minato spoke of. _'Kushina? Could it be possible? I only know one Kushina and she died years ago! I wonder…'_

"Is something wrong, Mei-chan?"

"Gomen. I must have spaced out for a moment. Tell me, you said your wife's name was Kushina?"

"Hai…" replied Minato, sounding weary. What was with this woman?

"Her surname wouldn't happen to be Uzumaki, would it?" asked Mei.

Minato's eyes widened. They then narrowed as he jumped back and pulled out one of his special kunai. "Why do you want to know what my wife's maiden name is?"

"…It is very important to me."

Though there was not much light in the room, Minato could see sadness in Mei's eyes. He remembered an old saying that mentions that the eyes are the windows to one's soul and you can tell if someone is lying by looking into their eyes. From what he saw, Minato could tell that Mei was not lying. Putting away his kunai, though staying on guard, he answered her question.

"Hai, her name is Uzumaki Kushina."

Mei felt happiness at that. She was happy that Kushina was alive.

"Arigatou, Minato-kun. You've helped me greatly with your answer," said Mei. She then headed towards the door, walking past a very confused Minato.

"Hold on! Why exactly did you want to know about Kushina?" demanded Minato.

Mei turned to him with a smile. "Let's just say it has to do with family."

The redhead left the room, leaving a stunned Minato. She hurried to her room so she could release the pent up happiness that was building up.

'_I can't believe it! I found my sister!'_

-:-

It was a few months later when Mei was traveling towards Konohagakure. She and Ao had finished a mission recently and when Mei found out that they were near Hi no Kuni, she demanded that they head to Konohagakure. When Ao questioned why, all he got was a smile and a death threat. That, unfortunately for Mei, didn't stop Ao's questions.

"I'll ask again, why are we going to Konohagakure? We have no business there!"

"I told you to shut up, Ao. I have my reasons as to go to Konohagakure!"

As they grew closer to the village, they were surprised to see the surrounding area look as if a great battle had taken place. Just as Mei was about to say something to Ao, they were surrounded by Konoha shinobi.

"Halt! What business do you have here, Kiri shinobi?" demanded the leader.

"We are here to speak with Namikaze Minato," said Mei. She grew confused when the Konoha shinobi glared at her.

"Do you take us for fools? Our Hokage is dead and you wish to speak with him?" raged the lead Konoha shinobi.

Mei and Ao's eye widened at that. From stories they've heard about Minato, he was someone who was hard to kill.

"D-Dead?" stuttered Mei.

"What happened?" questioned Ao.

"You don't know?" questioned another Konoha shinobi.

"We have been on a mission for the last week and haven't been near any villages, so we most likely would not have heard about anything until we would have returned home," explained Ao, producing the mission scroll as proof.

Seeing that it was legit, the Konoha shinobi had Mei and Ao follow them to the Hokage Tower where they would get their answers. When they reached reach the door of the Hokage's office, a gruff voice told them to enter after the lead Konoha shinobi knocked. Upon entering the Hokage's office, they were greeted by the sight of an old man sitting behind the desk. A bassinet in the corner caught Mei's attention.

"Hokage-sama, these Kirigakure shinobi wish to speak with you."

Hiruzen raised his head from his paperwork and raised an eyebrow. Sending the Konoha shinobi away, the old monkey got serious.

"Is there a reason you are here?"

"Hokage-sama, what happened here? What happened to Minato-kun?" asked Mei.

Ao explained to Hiruzen what he told the Konoha shinobi of how they hadn't heard anything that had happened.

"I see. If you must know, our village had been under siege three days ago."

"What could possibly have done all of this damage though?" questioned Ao. "It couldn't possibly been enemy shinobi"

"You are correct, Ao-san. It wasn't enemy ninja. We were unfortunately attacked by the Kyubi no Yoko."

Mei and Ao were shocked. They had no idea that the Kyubi had been released into the mortal realm.

"Wh-Why would Kyubi attack your village?" asked Mei.

"No one knows, Mei-san. Now answer a question for me. Why did you come here to see Minato for?" demanded Hiruzen, narrowing his eye at the woman.

Before Mei could say anything, the sound of whimpering came from the bassinet that soon became full blown crying. Letting out a sigh, Hiruzen stood up and walked over to the bassinet and took out the bundle that was in it. The sight of the blond baby shocked Mei.

"I am sorry about this," said Hiruzen as he tried to calm the baby.

"That baby. It is Minato-kun's, isn't it?" questioned Mei.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at Mei again. "What does it matter to you?"

"If it is, then that must mean it is also Kushina's, is it not?"

"Who are you exactly to ask such questions?" demanded the old monkey.

Mei glared back at the Hokage. "I am Terumi Mei! Formally Uzumaki Mei and sister to Uzumaki Kushina! If that baby truly is Kushina's then that would make me the baby's aunt!"

Both Hiruzen and Ao were shocked by Mei's declaration. Hiruzen, being the experienced shinobi he is, could easily spot deception with ease and he could not see any coming from the woman before him.

"If what you say is true, why are you here now? Why did you not come before?" questioned Hiruzen.

Mei's face took on a look of great sadness. "When Uzushiogakure was destroyed, I was separated from Kushina and thought she was one of the casualties. I didn't find out that she was alive until I met Minato-kun a few months ago, yet couldn't see her due to the missions our Mizukage kept giving us. This was the first chance I could take to allow me to come here. Hokage-sama, may I see Kushina if possible?"

It was Hiruzen's turn to show sadness. "I am sorry, Mei-san, but Kushina unfortunately died in childbirth during the Kyubi attack. The stress was too much for her."

Mei could feel tears in her eyes. All these years her sister was alive and just when she found her, she was taken away again, this time for good.

"If both Minato-kun and Kushina are gone, then that means that baby is all alone, isn't he?" questioned Mei, trying to hold back her sobs.

"Sadly, yes. Both of little Naruto-kun's parents are gone from this world."

'_Naruto? Such a cute name for a cute little baby! He even has cute little whiskers!'_ thought Mei. "Hokage-sama, if Naruto-kun has no parents, allow me to take him with me. I am his aunt after all."

"I am sorry, Mei-san, but I can not allow that," said Hiruzen.

"Why not? Naruto-kun is my nephew! I have the right to raise him!" yelled Mei. Hiruzen was glad he put up silence seals beforehand.

"It's simple, Mei-san," started Ao. "For one thing, Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato. Considering how Minato-sama was held in such high regard, that would basically make Naruto Konoha's prince and taking him from the village could cause much trouble."

"…I hadn't thought of that," mumbled Mei.

"The second reason, if I had to guess, Naruto is a jinchuriki, isn't he, Hokage-sama?" questioned Ao, looking at Hiruzen.

"What makes you think that, Ao-san?" questioned Hiruzen.

"The whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks are one sign. There's also the fact that a Biju can't be killed and if it is gone, along with Minato-sama, one can only guess that Minato had sealed the beast in Naruto as it must have been the only way," explained Ao.

"I still would like to take him with me," said Mei.

"Mei-san, if you take Naruto with us to Kirigakure and Yagura finds out he's a jinchuriki, what do you think will happen?" asked Ao.

Mei's eyes widened at that. She knew exactly what would happen. Her little Naruto-kun would be turned into a weapon for Kiri and she would not allow that to happen.

"If it makes you feel any better, Mei-san, I will make sure that Naruto-kun is raised properly," said Hiruzen.

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama. May I at least hold Naruto-kun before I leave?" asked Mei.

"Of course."

Hiruzen couldn't refuse and agreed to the request, though he was on guard just in case Mei tried to escape with Naruto. Naruto was still letting out a few whimpers from his earlier crying, but quieted down once he was in Mei's arms. The baby Uzumaki gave the redhead a curious look with his large blue eyes.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. I'm your Mei-obachan!" greeted Mei with a smile.

Her smile widened when Naruto let out a few giggles as he started playing with her hair. Sadly. Their family bonding moment had to end and Mei had to reluctantly hand over Naruto, after she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"We should be leaving now, Mei-san," said Ao, his face void of emotion. Though on the inside, he felt pity and sadness for the redhead.

"Hai," replied Mei.

"Do not worry, Mei-san. As I said earlier, I will make sure Naruto is raised properly and if you wish, I will send you reports on how he is doing over time," said Hiruzen.

It wasn't much, but it lifted Mei's spirits a bit. "Arigatou, Hokage-sama."

With that, the two Kiri shinobi left the office and headed home. Once they left, Hiruzen spoke up.

"What are your thoughts on this, Jiraiya?"

The window behind the old monkey opened up and in stepped a very tall man with long spiky white hair.

"Honestly, Sensei, I'm surprised that there was another Uzumaki out there. I had always thought Kushina was the last one. Do you think we can trust her, Sensei?"

Hiruzen took out his pipe and lit it up. After taking a puff and exhaling the smoke, he replied to his former student's question. "I am sure we can, Jiraiya. The emotions she showed were genuine and I know that if she could, she would take very good care of Naruto-kun."

"It's too bad she couldn't become a Konoha shinobi so she could be closer to Naruto."

"Considering her reaction from what Ao-san mentioned of their current Mizukage, that might be a bad idea. All we can do is honor her request and keep Naruto safe," said Hiruzen.

Jiraiya nodded his head in agreement. He then gave his infamous perverted grin. "It's too bad we didn't know Kushina had a sister in the first place. Makes me wonder if Minato would have chosen the busty redhead over small-chested Kushina!"

Hiruzen could only give his former student an annoyed look.

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**Thus ends the prologue. The next chapter will be the start of the actual story and take place after a time skip.**

**The fic that made me want to expand on the idea of Mei being Naruto's aunt is entitled 'The Recovered Spiral', which I found written very well and the idea believable. I highly recommend reading it.**


	2. Twelve Years Later

It has been a little over twelve years since the day Mei found out she had a nephew. Since that time, Hiruzen had kept his word and raised Naruto the best he could. Since Hiruzen couldn't be everywhere though, there have been a few incidents where idiotic civilians tried to hurt the young Naruto, but Hiruzen made sure to use them as an example for others who tried to hurt Naruto by having them visit Ibiki. Luckily for Hiruzen, incidents like that haven't happened again, though the hate towards Naruto continued.

Currently, a twelve-year-old Naruto was on a mission in Nami no Kuni with his team, which consisted of his sensei, Hatake Kakashi, and fellow genin, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. The three genin were currently training for the upcoming battle against Momochi Zabuza, former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

The team had finished with the tree walking exercise that Kakashi had given them, so Naruto was now trying to learn a jutsu from the scroll he was reading.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hai, Naruto?"

"Can you help me with this jutsu?"

His team looked at him in confusion, wondering where Naruto got the scroll in the first place. Sasuke was the one to speak up.

"It's not like you'd be able to learn it anyway, dobe. Where'd you get the scroll in the first place?"

"For your information, teme, I found this scroll on my doorstep a few days ago. As to who it's from, I don't know," replied the orange-clad boy.

Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped at the fact that Naruto would willingly accept a mysterious scroll. Kakashi on the other hand, judging from what the jutsu was, knew whom it was from. After Hiruzen's encounter with Mei twelve years ago, he informed Kakashi, who was put in charge of watching out for Naruto. Kakashi was surprised to find out that Kushina had a sister, but was happy that Naruto still had family out there. The scroll must have been like the other gifts Mei sent year after year.

"Unfortunately, Naruto, you'll have to wait until we get home for you to learn this jutsu," said Kakashi.

"How come, Kakashi-sensei?" questioned Naruto, sounding disappointed.

"Well, this jutsu is a Suiton jutsu. With elemental jutsu, it usually depends on the shinobi's elemental affinity on how well they can learn it."

"Can't you just check my affinity here?" asked Naruto, looking confused.

"I could, but I left the tool needed to do so back home," explained Kakashi with an eye smile, making the three genin sweatdrop. "Alright now, back to training!"

-:-

Team Seven trained for a few more days. One day, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke went with Tazuna to the bridge, leaving Naruto behind to rest as he overworked himself with training. It wasn't until later in the day did Naruto wake up, upset that he was left behind. Saying goodbye to Tsunami and Inari, Naruto rushed out of the house, trying to catch up with his team.

"I can't believe they just left me!" exclaimed Naruto. "They're going to get it when I catch up with them!"

As he jumped through the trees, Naruto slowed as something caught his eye. Coming to a stop, Naruto saw a dead boar, but what really caught Naruto's attention was how the boar died.

'_Those look like cuts from a sword. There're cuts on the trees too. Wait, they look like they're heading towards…Kuso!'_

Naruto turned around and went as fast as he could back to Tsunami's house, hoping he wasn't too late.

-:-

Back at the house, Tsunami and Inari were being threatened by two of Gato's thugs.

"I say we kill this little brat here," said Waraji with a sadistic grin.

"Might as well. Gato said we only need one hostage anyway," said Zori.

"Leave him alone! If you kill him, I'll kill myself!" exclaimed Tsunami.

"Like you have the guts!" laughed Waraji.

"Shut up, you idiot! Like she'd bluff about something like that," said Zori. He then turned to Tsunami. "Fine. The brat can live, but you're coming with us."

Zori picked up Tsunami and threw her over his shoulder. The two samurai mercenaries then left, leaving a scared Inari behind. Though scared, Inari remembered his father Kaiza. He would not lose another member of his family, so he ran after the two thugs.

It wasn't until he was far from the house that Inari caught up with Zori and Waraji. When he did catch up, he saw that Naruto was fighting against the two.

"You honestly think you can beat us, brat?" laughed Waraji. "We're skilled samurai!"

"I don't care! I'll beat both of you if it means Gato won't win!" exclaimed Naruto. He then made a hand seal **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Naruto created ten copies of himself and all of them charged the samurai duo. Unfortunately, the skilled swordsmen destroyed the Naruto copies.

"Stupid kid! Time for you to die!" shouted Zori.

He sped towards Naruto, his blade ready to kill. Just as Zori was about to connect his attack, he was blasted away by a stream of water, knocking him out as he was slammed into a tree. Surprised by this, Waraji didn't see the incoming attack and was hit by what looked to be a giant hammer made of chakra.

Inari, who caught up with Naruto, who was standing over an unconscious Tsunami, looked over at the fallen samurai in confusion.

"What just happened and who is that guy?" questioned Inari, pointing at a teen with short tufty blue hair and dark eyes. He was also wearing square, black-rimmed glasses attached to some headphones. In the teen's hand was a large double-handled sword.

"I have no idea," replied Naruto, equally confused. "But I'm going to find out."

Naruto then made four copies of himself. Once the smoke cleared, he turned to the copies.

"What's up, Boss?" asked one of the copies.

"I need you four to make sure Inari and Tsunami get home safely. Understood?"

"Hai!" exclaimed the four Naruto copies with a salute.

One of the copies lifted Tsunami off the ground and then the group made there way back to the house. They were surprised that the mystery teen didn't try to stop them.

"Alright, Four Eyes! Who are you? If you want to fight, I'll give you one!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Now is that anyway to speak to someone who helped you? Especially Chojuro. He's such a nice boy," said a feminine voice, making the teen's, Chojuro's, face turn pink a bit.

Naruto turned to where the voice came from to see a woman with long red hair and a man wearing an eye patch walk out of the woods. For a brief second, Naruto could have sworn that the woman looked familiar.

"Mei-sama, was that necessary?" asked Chojuro.

"A better question would be who the hell are you three?" questioned Naruto, keeping on guard.

"Watch your tongue, boy," growled the eye patch wearing man. "You will show more respect for your elders."

"Ao, shut up before I kill you," said Mei with a smile. She then turned back to Naruto. "To answer your question, we are Kiri shinobi…"

Before Mei could continue with her explanation, Naruto interrupted. "Kiri shinobi? You're not with that eyebrow-less freak Zabuza, are you?"

The three Kiri shinobi stiffened at the name. Mei and Ao then looked at Naruto with a serious look.

"Zabuza? As in Momochi Zabuza? He's here?" questioned Ao, his eye narrowing.

Naruto nodded. "Zabuza was hired by some teme named Gato to take out the bridge builder that my team was hired to protect. But you should know that since you're probably working with Zabuza!"

"We can assure you that we are not working with Zabuza. Zabuza is a traitor to Kirigakure," explained Chojuro.

"We were on our way to Konoha to speak with the Hokage about some important business, but if you wish, we can help you take down Zabuza," said Mei with a smile.

"You will?" asked Naruto, raising his eyebrow in confusion. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that he could trust this woman.

"Hai. What's your name by the way?" asked Mei, though she did indeed know his name.

The blond gave a fox-like grin. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! The future Hokage!"

Mei giggled at Naruto's exuberance. "Well then, Naruto-kun, lead the way."

The four took to the trees, following Naruto to the bridge. With Naruto and Chojuro up further ahead, Ao took the opportunity to speak up.

"How is it that this boy thinks he could become a Kage? I sense a lack of experience and the fact that he is wearing nothing but orange shows that he will not make it in the world of shinobi," said Ao, narrowing his eye on the orange clad boy. "The boy should just give up now before he gets himself killed."

"Ao, speak ill of Naruto-kun again and I will kill you," said Mei, this time not smiling. _'Though I should try to find out why Naruto-kun is like this. Even for a genin, he should be at a higher skill level. I will speak with his sensei about this once I have the chance.'_

-:-

On the bridge, Kakashi was battling against Zabuza, while Sasuke was going up against Zabuza's partner, Haku. Sakura stayed back to protect Tazuna.

"Real smart, leaving a weakling of a kunoichi to guard the bridge builder, Kakashi," taunted Zabuza.

"All the more reason to defeat you so you can't hurt either one of them," said Kakashi, his Sharingan blazing.

While the two high-ranking shinobi clashed, Sasuke was having trouble with Haku, who had formed his **Makyo Hyosho**, trapping the Uchiha inside.

"I will ask again, will you please just leave? I don't want to have to kill you," said the masked teen in a soft voice.

"I am someone who will not just retreat from an opponent," said Sasuke, glaring at the boy in front of him.

"Then you leave me no choice."

Haku, hiding in one of the mirrors, sent a barrage of senbon at the raven-haired boy, striking him from all angles.

Sasuke was breathing heavily as he tried to watch Haku's movements. Unfortunately, Haku was too fast for the Uchiha. Just as Haku was about to finish Sasuke off, he was struck in the face with a shuriken that came off from the side.

"The hero always arrives at the last minute!"

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke sweatdropped at Naruto's exclamation.

"Heh, heh, heh. Looks like another lamb has come to the slaughter," laughed Zabuza. His eyes then widened in shock when a familiar voice sounded off.

"The only one who will be dying today is you, Zabuza."

The wielder of Kubikiribocho turned his head and to his surprise, Terumi Mei, Ao, and some unknown kid stood with the blond brat. What surprised him further was that the unknown kid was wielding Hiramekarei.

Mei's appearance was also a surprise to Kakashi. He didn't think he'd see her here, especially with Naruto. Kakashi hoped that Mei hadn't revealed anything to Naruto yet.

Sakura, Sasuke, Tazuna, and Haku were confused at the appearance of these newcomers.

"Terumi Mei. Let me guess, that bastard Mizukage sent you and your bodyguards after me?" questioned Zabuza. He rose what would have been an eyebrow in confusion when the redhead shook her head.

"Actually, Yagura sent us on a mission to Konoha to deal with some business. Those plans changed though when we ran into Naruto-kun here," explained Mei.

"Either way, I won't let you take me down. Before I do kill you though, tell me why that kid has Mangetsu's sword," demanded Zabuza, pointing Kubikiribocho at Chojuro, who flinched back a bit.

"Hozuki Mangetsu unfortunately died prematurely. Someone had to take up Hiramekarei and Chojuro was the one who could wield it best," stated Mei, smiling at that last part.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. "I'll be the judge of that!"

"Very well then. Chojuro, you will assist Hatake-san in fighting Zabuza. Ao, you shall help Naruto-kun battle that faux hunter ninja. I will help guard the bridge builder. Is that understood?"

"Hai!" said Chojuro, Naruto, and Ao.

Naruto sped into the ice mirror prison, much to Ao's annoyance, as he now had to follow him to make sure he didn't get killed. Chojuro withdrew Hiramekarei from his back and started to attack Zabuza, who now had to fight two opponents. With the Kiri shinobi here, his **Kirigakure no Jutsu** would be almost useless, as all Kiri shinobi know how to use this technique.

Mei appeared in front of Sakura and Tazuna, her back facing them as she watched the fights.

"Who are you?" questioned Sakura, her eyes wide with awe.

Mei turned to her with a smile. "Just some allies."

-:-

With the battle against Haku…

"You stupid dobe! Why the hell did you show yourself **and **come in here?" yelled Sasuke, ignoring Ao's presence.

"Shut up, teme! If I hadn't appeared, you would've been dead!" shot back Naruto.

"Both of you be quiet! Just do as I say and this battle will be done quickly," growled Ao. He really didn't like working with children.

"I will not let you win. I will help Zabuza-sama achieve his goals," stated Haku. An image of Haku appeared in each mirror at that moment.

"That's what you think!" exclaimed Naruto.

Ao activated his hidden Byakugan so he could track Haku better as it combined with his sensor abilities.

"Don't think your speed will help you, boy. I'll show you what a true hunter-nin is like," said Ao, watching Haku's movements.

"Your skill may be higher than mine, but that will not stop me from helping Zabuza-sama."

The air around them started to get colder and Ao was surprised when ice crystals started to form on his arms.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Ao as he tried to break the ice off of his body. It was no use as more ice kept forming.

"It is my kekkei genkai, Hyoton."

"Hyoton? Then you must be a member of the Yuki Clan. I had thought your clan was extinct," said Ao, his lower body and arms trapped in ice. Sasuke perked up at the mention of Haku being the last of his clan.

"I am the only one left after my father killed my mother and then tried to kill me. After that, Zabuza-sama found me and took me under his wing. Since then, I have devoted myself to making sure to never fail Zabuza-sama."

"I could care less on how devoted you are to Zabuza. You're in my way," stated Sasuke, now glaring at Haku with his reawakened Sharingan. "Let's see which clan is stronger."

"Teme, this is no time to show off!" exclaimed Naruto. "We need to take this guy down so we can save Tazuna and his homeland!"

"Uzumaki is right, Uchiha. Put your ego in check and stop Zabuza," said Ao as the ice fully encased him.

"You should heed his words. He has about thirty minutes before he dies from the cold and only by defeating me will he be freed," explained Haku.

"Then let's do this! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

-:-

Zabuza was still fighting with Kakashi and Chojuro. He even had to make a few **Mizu Bunshin** to help even the odds against his opponents.

"That blade will mine, boy!" stated Zabuza as his sword clashed with Chojuro's.

"A traitor like you will never have this sword!" retorted Chojuro.

The two swordsmen continued to clash, with Kakashi getting a few blows every now and then. Getting frustrated, Zabuza swung with all of his might and was able to knock Hiramekarei out of Chojuro's hands, sending the blade flying through the air and making it land a few feet away.

"Looks like you aren't as skilled as I thought. It's a shame that Kirigakure is letting weaklings like you become a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Say goodnight!" declared Zabuza, ready to decapitate Chojuro. That plan was put a stop when he had to block an attack from Kakashi.

"Try taking me on, Zabuza," said the scarecrow. "Chojuro-san! Go recover your sword while I deal with Zabuza!"

The young swordsman ran off to retrieve Hiramekarei while Kakashi battled with Zabuza, who had created more Mizu Bunshin to handle the Copy Nin. The Mizu Bunshin though weren't exactly helpful as Kakashi was able to turn them into puddles.

Getting aggravated, Zabuza was about to slice Kakashi in half when there was a sudden burst of chakra coming from the dome of ice mirrors. Everyone froze and looked towards the source, but what really got everyone's attention was how evil the chakra felt.

"What the hell?" grunted Zabuza. Watching the swirling chakra inside the dome made him feel something he thought he'd never feel. Worry for Haku.

With Mei, she too felt the evil chakra and her body went rigid with fear. Fear for what could happen to Naruto.

'_I need to do something!'_ thought the redhead. Before she could do anything, she noticed Kakashi taking action.

'_Time to end this now!'_ thought Kakashi, worried about Naruto. Kakashi took out a scroll and smeared some of his blood on it after rolling it out. Afterwards, he performed a few hand signs before he slammed the scroll to ground. **"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu!"**

The ground rumbled as crack formed and made their way from the scroll to Zabuza's position. The swordsman didn't know what hit him until it was too late. The ground around him exploded and eight figures came from below and clamped onto Zabuza, much to the swordsman's surprise. It was then that Zabuza noticed that what had latched onto him was a pack of ninken.

"Wh-What is this?" demanded Zabuza as he grunted in pain.

"This is the end!" exclaimed Kakashi as he gathered electricity in his palm.

-:-

With Naruto and Haku, the young blond, who had tapped the Kyubi no Yoko's chakra and gone feral after witnessing Sasuke's death, slammed his fist into Haku's masked face, sending the ice user through one of the mirrors. The Feral Naruto was about to finish Haku off, but he calmed down when he saw Haku's face.

"It's you…"

"Kill me."

"Nani?"

"Kill me. I have failed Zabuza-sama and therefore am no longer needed."

"What the hell are you talking about? You act as if you're just some tool!" exclaimed Naruto.

"We are shinobi. Shinobi are tools for their masters to use," said Haku.

"You're wrong!" yelled Naruto, making Haku look at him in surprise. "Shinobi are not tools to just be thrown away! We're humans and humans shouldn't be thrown away like garbage!"

Naruto thought of some of his important people, like Hokage-jiji, Kakashi-sensei, and Iruka-sensei. He knew for a fact that they would never treat anyone like tools and the thought that they would made him sick to his stomach. He cast a glare towards Haku.

"You honestly believe that?" asked Haku. There was no taunting from his words. He was genuinely curious.

"Damn right I do!"

"I see. But still, by failing Zabuza-sama, I will still be cast aside like a tool. I would rather die than feel the pain of being unwanted. Please, Naruto-kun. Please kill me."

Before Naruto could respond, Haku's eye flew open and he looked towards where Zabuza and Kakashi were fighting. Without warning Haku ran off towards that direction.

"Oi, wait!" yelled out Naruto. He was about to chase after Haku, but a tall blur ran passed him first.

-:-

"This is the end!" exclaimed Kakashi.

The Konoha Jonin ran forward, his hand engulfed with chirping electricity. Just as he was about to strike Zabuza with his **Raikiri**, both his and Zabuza's eyes widened when Haku appeared between them, ready to take the attack for Zabuza. At the last second though, Haku was pulled away, much to the boy's surprise and horror. Kakashi's attack made its mark as it pierced Zabuza's chest.

"Zabuza-sama!" exclaimed Haku as he watched his master fall to his knees.

"Keep quiet, boy," growled a voice from above Haku. The ice user looked up to glare at the person, who turned out to be Ao, who must have been freed from his icy prison by whatever that chakra of Naruto's was.

"H-Haku…" grunted a weak voice that caught Haku's attention.

"Zabuza-sama?" exclaimed a surprised Haku.

"You're a fool, you know that?"

"N-Nani?"

"Damn your kind heart. I never thought it'd affect me like this. Haku, forget everything I taught you about shinobi being tools," panted Zabuza. Kakashi was surprised by how much willpower Zabuza had to live, even if it wasn't going to last long.

"But, Zabuza-sama!"

"Just do it!" yelled Zabuza, before he coughed up blood. "Live your own life, Haku. Kakashi, make sure Haku's safe or I'll come up from Hell and haunt you."

Kakashi glanced towards Haku, who was still being held in place by Ao. "Don't worry, Zabuza. You have my word that Haku will be safe."

Assured that his ward will be taken care of, Zabuza let himself fall, never to rise up again. The silence was broken from a sinister laugh.

"I guess the stories of the Kirigakure no Kijin were false if he died so easily," said Gato with a laugh. Standing behind him was a mass of thugs, armed with weapons ranging from blades to clubs.

Haku glared at the man and was about to tell the man to not to disrespect Zabuza, but was interrupted by Naruto who walked up and stood next him.

"Shut your mouth, teme!"

Gato sneered at the blond. "What's it to you as to what I say about that failure. He was you enemy after all."

"No he wasn't. Sure, he was trying to kill Tazuna, but that was only because he was hired to. As far as I'm concerned, Zabuza isn't our enemy! You are!" exclaimed Naruto, giving Gato and his men a fierce glare.

"Stupid naïve boy," said Gato with a sneer. He then turned to his hired thugs. "Pay is doubled for whoever kills the orange brat."

With a cheer, the thugs charged forward, ready to kill. Unfortunately, Naruto had other plans.

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

In a large puff of smoke, Naruto created hundreds upon hundreds of copies of himself. Everyone, aside from Kakashi, was shocked to see so many Kage Bunshin.

'_How can Naruto-kun make this many copies? Could it be that the Kyubi has something to with it?'_ though Mei, worried that Naruto might be using too much chakra.

The thugs stopped dead in their tracks, scared of how many orange-clad blonds were now on the bridge.

"Oi, Haku! Why don't you take down Gato while I keep these guys busy?" suggested Naruto as he cracked his knuckles.

Haku gave a small smile in thanks. At least he could still be useful to Zabuza-sama by taking out the man who was going to betray him. While Naruto's copies took care of the thugs, Haku sped towards the now frightened Gato. The businessman didn't have a chance as Haku struck him multiple senbon. Paralyzed from the where the senbon struck, Gato fell back over the bridge and plummeted into the ocean below, never to be seen again.

Seeing that their employer was now dead, the thugs grew enraged.

"How are we going to get paid now?" demanded one of the thugs. "Let's get them!"

With renewed courage, the thugs were about to take down the shinobi, even though they were outnumbered thanks to Naruto. Before they could though, an arrow struck the ground in front of the group of thugs. Looking up from where the arrow came from, their courage depleted when they saw the townsfolk, led by Inari, brandishing weapons.

"Looks like they finally decided to defend themselves," said Tazuna with a laugh. He laughed even harder when the thugs dropped their weapons and jumped off the bridge to get away.

"We won!" cheered Naruto. He turned to everyone, but became confused when he saw Haku walking away. His face became saddened when he saw that Haku was walking towards the fallen Sasuke.

Sakura, unfortunately, also saw where Haku was walking towards Sasuke. Her eyes started to fill with tears. "Sasuke-kun?"

Haku started removing the senbon from Sasuke's body. "Naruto-kun, come here and help with Sasuke's body. It will be a while before he gets feeling back."

Naruto was confused by Haku's words, but his eyes soon grew wide when he heard Sasuke let out a few coughs. "The teme's alive?"

Naruto and Sakura ran over to Haku and Sasuke to see that the Uchiha was indeed alive.

"Sasuke-kun!" cried Sakura as she hugged the boy, much to his annoyance.

"But how?" questioned Naruto. By this time, everyone else had come over to see what was going on.

"Despite training under Zabuza-sama, I prefer to only kill if I really have to. I saw no need to actually kill Sasuke-san, so I decided to put him in a death-like state," explained the fifteen-year-old ice user, unknowingly receiving a glare from the Uchiha.

"You sure Zabuza was the only one to train you, boy?" questioned Ao. He was surprised that some as young as Haku was this skilled.

"Hai. Zabuza was the only one to train me. Though I did train myself in the ways of medicine and senbon."

The elder shinobi were even more surprised by this, Mei even more so.

'_I wonder if Haku-kun would be willing to help me with my future plans. I could use someone from the Yuki Clan to help my cause,'_ she thought to herself.

-:-

After everything that had happened, the townsfolk allowed for Zabuza to be buried on a nearby hill when they learned that he had a part in Gato's downfall…at least that's what Tazuna told everyone. Haku was happy that Zabuza would be allowed a proper burial. Ao on the other hand thought it would be best to bring Zabuza's body back to Kirigakure, but one threatening glance from Mei shut him up.

Chojuro wanted to take Zabuza's blade back with him, but surprisingly, Naruto objected to that.

"I may not know much about the ways of a swordsman, but shouldn't a swordsman be buried with his sword?" was his question.

Chojuro wanted to hit himself for forgetting that rule of the sword. Agreeing with Naruto, Chojuro placed the Kubikiribocho in the ground to act as Zabuza's grave marker.

With that settled and the bridge complete, both the Konoha shinobi and the Kiri shinobi made their way out of Nami no Kuni and headed back towards Konohagakure, never knowing that the bridge was named The Great Naruto Bridge.

-:-

"Kakashi-san, may I have a word with you?" asked Mei. The group was currently crossing the border into Hi no Kuni.

"About?" questioned Kakashi, not taking his eye off his little orange book.

Mei looked towards the others to make sure they weren't listening. "Naruto-kun."

That was enough of a reason for Kakashi to close his book and put it away. He turned to give the redhead his undivided attention.

"Before you ask anything, you didn't happen to tell Naruto of your relation to him yet, have you?"

"Of course not. He had much on his mind already, what with dealing with Zabuza and Gato. He didn't need me adding to his worries. I will tell him soon though."

"Very well. He does need to know that he has family out there."

Mei smiled at the thought of finally telling Naruto and being truly reunited with her nephew. Her smile faded though when she thought of what she wanted to talk to Kakashi about.

"Kakashi-san, why is Naruto-kun so under-skilled?"

"…What do you mean?" questioned Kakashi, though he had a feeling exactly what she meant.

Mei glared at the man. "Aside from the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**, Naruto-kun doesn't seem to have any other ninjutsu in his arsenal when most genin at this stage have at least three. Then there is his taijutsu, which seems more suited for a barroom brawl. I don't even want to know how he does with genjutsu."

"…I guess that would partially my fault, though some blame can also be placed on a majority of the academy teachers," explained Kakashi, narrowing his eye. "When Naruto was still in the academy, most of the instructors tried to sabotage Naruto from becoming a shinobi. Luckily, they have been dealt with and one instructor, named Iruka, did his best to teach Naruto what he needed to know."

Mei would have to meet this Iruka and thank him for helping her Naruto-kun. "Now explain why you are at fault."

"One thing I try to enforce is the need for teamwork. Despite have little to no interaction with people; Naruto is willing to work with others to complete a mission. Sakura also is willing to use teamwork, though not as much as Naruto. The problem lies with Sasuke, who believes he needs no one and can do everything on his own. Because of that, and the fact that I am the only one who can teach him about his Sharingan, I tend to focus more on Sasuke than I do with Naruto and Sakura and that makes it seem I favor Sasuke."

Mei noticed the small amount of venom in Kakashi's voice. "It sounds like you do not like teaching Sasuke."

"It's not that I do not like Sasuke, I just find it irritating sometimes to deal with him since it takes me away from my other students."

It was then that Mei got an idea. "Kakashi-san, why don't you let me train Naruto-kun for a while?" Seeing his confused look, she explained. "If I train him, not only will he get the training he needs and you won't have to worry about his wellbeing, but I'll be able to spend time with him."

"I don't know. I would prefer to train him myself."

"How can you do that if your time is always taken up by the Uchiha?"

Kakashi let out a sigh. "I suppose you could, but I want to explain to him as to why I won't be training him anymore."

"I never said you wouldn't be training him anymore. He'll just have two teachers and you will teach him when you have the time to do so."

Kakashi contemplated this. "I guess that sounds reasonable. If you do plan on teaching him, just forget about teaching him genjutsu."

"Why is that?" wondered Mei, getting suspicious.

"Because of the Kyubi no Yoko, Naruto has too much chakra. He can't properly control it and because of that, he is unable to use genjutsu."

"He may not be able to use genjutsu, but that doesn't mean he won't learn how to dispel them."

"Then I guess he's all yours, Mei-san."

Mei could only smile at what was to come.

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**I am so sorry it took so long with this chapter. I had a case of writer's block with it. Though I blame that mostly on the fact that I didn't really care for the Land of Wave Arc. Only reason I put that in here was for to have Mei and Naruto meet up again and because I wanted Haku to be a part of the story. As Mei mentioned earlier, Haku will be essential to her future plans, which I'm sure everyone can guess what they are.**

**Next chapter will have Naruto getting lessons on the different elements, elemental training, and the start of the Chunin Exams, which will have some special guests. Stay tuned.**

**Translations:**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique**

**Makyo Hyosho – Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors**

**Kubikiribocho – Decapitating Craving Knife**

**Kirigakure no Jutsu – Art of Hiding in the Mist**

**Hyoton – Ice Release**

**Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu – Water Clone Technique**

**Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu – Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique**

**Raikiri – Lighting Cutter**

**Kirigakure no Kijin – Demon of the Hidden Mist**

**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Technique**


	3. Lessons

Two days have passed since the group returned to Konoha. When they arrived, Hiruzen was waiting outside the gate along with two of his ANBU. Kakashi had sent a report explaining what had happened back in Nami no Kuni. Being assured by Kakashi that Haku was not a threat and a little begging from Naruto, Hiruzen allowed Haku to stay in Konoha.

Right now, Mei was waiting at one of the training fields for Naruto, Kakashi, and Haku to arrive. While she waited, she thought back on the meeting she had with Hiruzen, the reason she had come to Konoha in the first place.

**(Flashback)**

_Hiruzen sat behind his desk while Mei and her bodyguards stood before him. Haku, who was wondering why he was there, stood off to the side._

"_Now, Mei-san, what is your reason for coming to Konohagakure?" questioned the old monkey._

"_Officially, we are here on behalf of the Mizukage to form an alliance of sorts and we are to stay as long as it takes to get it," replied the redhead._

"_Oh?"_

"_Unofficially though, I am here to request help from Konoha?"_

_Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at that. "What sort of help, Mei-san."_

"_I am sure you know of how for years there have been genocides of those with kekkei genkai within Mizu no Kuni that are still going on today. I have plans on stopping that."_

"_Mei-san, if you are asking for Konoha to go to war with Mizu no Kuni, I will have to refuse," said Hiruzen, narrowing his eyes at the Kiri shinobi before him._

"_Not at all, Hokage-sama. What I wanted was if you would allow Konohagakure to become a sanctuary of sorts for those with kekkei genkai. To protect those within Mizu no Kuni that have a kekkei genkai, I want to secretly send them here for protection, while I try to find a way to get rid of both of the current Mizukage and the current Water Daimyo, both of who support the genocides."_

_The Hokage tented his fingers and looked at Mei with a thoughtful look. "You do realize that this is a very dangerous risk you are taking, Mei-san. Are you sure you can take it?"_

_Mei nodded. "I know, Hokage-sama, but it needs to be done and if you agree, Haku-kun here will be the first refugee and will be able to revive the Yuki Clan later on!"_

"_Huh? Wait; is that the reason Ao-san saved me? So that my kekkei genkai can be preserved?" questioned Haku, starting to feel confused._

"_Actually, Haku-kun, that was more of an afterthought. Ao rescued you because despite his looks and personality, he hates seeing children dying," said Mei with a giggle as Ao sent a glare towards her. "As for wanting you to revive the Yuki Clan, I want to be able to repent for what happened to them all those years ago and this seems to be the only to do so."_

"…_I see."_

"_Haku-kun, this is your choice on whether to do this or not. I would still like it for you to stay Konoha though until I am able to fix Mizu no Kuni so you and others with kekkei genkai may be able to live there without fear," explained Mei. "That is if Hokage-sama agrees to allow this."_

"_Hmm…very well. I will allow Konohagakure to be a sanctuary. We will have to come up with some sort of code though so other refugees will be able to gain entrance without being seen as enemies."_

"_Agreed," nodded Mei._

"_Hokage-sama?"_

"_What is it, Haku-kun?"_

"_If I am to stay here in Konoha, would it be possible for me to stay with Naruto-kun? He is the only one I consider a friend and feel comfortable around."_

_Hiruzen gave a small smirk. He was glad that Naruto was gaining new friends. "Of course you can, Haku-kun. Though I will have to give Naruto a bigger apartment to live in as the one he is currently living in is too small for two people."_

"_I don't want to cause trouble, Hokage-sama," said Haku as Hiruzen looked through some papers._

"_Nonsense! Besides, I know Naruto will agree to this," said Hiruzen as he looked up with a smile._

"…_Should we also tell Naruto-kun about the plan with Mizu no Kuni?" questioned the ice user._

_It was silent in the room as they thought over that question. Mei was the one break the silence and answer Haku. "I think it would be best to leave Naruto-kun out of the loop for now, Haku-kun."_

"_I agree. Though Naruto can be trusted, this information could put him in danger, both outside and within the village," stated Hiruzen, getting confused looks from Haku and Chojuro, while Ao and Mei had a feeling about what the Hokage meant by within._

**(End Flashback)**

Mei was glad that Hiruzen had agreed to help her and that Naruto had a new friend in Haku. The young blond's face lit up when he heard that Haku would be staying and that he would also be his roommate so-to-speak. Speaking of which, Mei could hear Naruto and Haku talking to each other as the came towards her. A few feet behind the two was Kakashi, his nose buried in that orange book of his.

"Oi, Mei-chan! What are you doing here?" questioned Naruto as he and Haku walked up to the redhead.

"Didn't Kakashi-san tell you?" asked Mei. When Naruto shook his head no, she gave the scarecrow a deadpan look. Turning back to Naruto, she answered him. "I am here to both teach you about chakra and to find out your chakra affinity."

"Shouldn't Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme be here then so they can find out there affinities too?" wondered Naruto.

"Actually Naruto," spoke up Kakashi. "I had them tested yesterday to find out their chakra affinities. Sakura, it seems, is an earth affinity, while Sasuke is, not surprisingly given his clan, both fire and lightning affinity."

"But Kakashi-sensei! How come you didn't wait for me?" whined Naruto; saddened that Kakashi would ignore him like that.

"But Naruto, if I tested for your affinity yesterday, then you would not be able to receive the special training that Mei-san will give you," said Kakashi, knowing that will calm the boy.

"Really?" exclaimed Naruto, looking towards Mei and his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Of course, Naruto-kun!" said Mei with a smile. "Now, before we can start the training, I need to know how much you know about chakra and the different affinities."

"Ano, I know that there are five affinities of chakra. Fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning," replied Naruto with a fox-like grin.

"Very good, Naruto-kun. Here, take this."

Mei handed both Naruto and Haku a slip of paper.

"What's this?" asked Naruto.

"That slip of paper, when pumped with chakra, will tell us what elemental affinity you are," explained Mei.

"Why do I have one, Mei-sama? I already know that my affinity is Ice due to my kekkei genkai."

"You have one as part of the lesson later on, so do not put chakra into it until we get to that point. Understood?"

"Hai, Mei-sama."

"Good. Now, put some chakra into the paper, Naruto-kun."

Doing as he was told, the paper in Naruto's hand was sliced in two. Kakashi and Mei were surprised to see this result.

"Well this is interesting," said Kakashi.

'_I was hoping he'd have the fire affinity or the water affinity,'_ thought Mei, a small frown appearing on her face.

"It split in two. What's that mean?" asked Naruto, looking up towards the adults.

"It means that you have the wind affinity, Naruto. That's very rare here in Hi no Kuni," explained Kakashi, giving his infamous eye smile.

"Really? Cool!"

"Indeed. I guess I'll be leaving then."

"Huh? Where are you going, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well, as I said, the wind affinity is rare in Hi no Kuni and there is only one other person in Konoha that has that affinity, so I'm going to see if he'd be willing to help with your training."

"Can't you just train me, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Gomen, Naruto, but the wind element is one of the harder elements to learn and only those with the wind affinity have a better chance of teaching it. Since I have the lighting affinity, I am not suited to teach you at the moment."

With that, Kakashi left the training field to find the person who could train Naruto.

Naruto then turned to Mei. "What about you, Mei-chan? What's your elemental affinity?"

"I am sorry, Naruto-kun, but my affinity is fire, which is rare in Mizu no Kuni. We will just have to wait for Kakashi to come back with confirmation on if this person he went to see will train you with your affinity. Until then, can you tell me about combining elements?"

"You can combine elements?"

"Of course. Now watch this."

Mei turned towards a nearby boulder and then made a horse sign with her hands. The next thing everyone knew was that she released a cloud of mist from her mouth that melted the boulder down to nothing.

"Whoa! That was so cool!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I do not think I have ever seen a technique like that before," stated Haku.

"That was my **Futton: Komu no Jutsu**. Futton techniques are created by combining Suiton and Katon techniques," explained Mei. "Now watch this technique."

Mei then turned to different boulder and then performed the hand seals dog, boar, tiger, ox, rat, bird. Once finished, she opened her mouth and this time she shot lava upwards into the air that came out in a broad, thin sheet that traveled towards the boulder, melting it down like the last one.

"She's a human volcano!"

"Not quite, Naruto-kun," said Haku. "That was Yoton technique, wasn't it, Mei-sama?"

"Hai. That technique is known as the **Yoton: Yokai no Jutsu**. Yoton techniques are created by combining Katon and Doton techniques."

"Mei-sama, aren't Futton and Yoton considered kekkei genkai?" asked Haku, looking confused.

"Yes and no. Naruto-kun, what can you tell me about kekkei genkai?"

"…"

Mei looked at Naruto with a deadpan look. "He don't know what a kekkei genkai is?"

"I don't think Iruka-sensei taught that in the academy."

The redhead let out a sigh. "Haku-kun, please explain to Naruto-kun what a kekkei genkai is."

"Of course, Mei-sama. A kekkei genkai, Naruto-kun, is a technique limited to inheritance by blood. My Hyoton is an example of a kekkei genkai."

"…So only certain clans have a kekkei genkai?"

"That is correct, Naruto-kun," said Mei, happy that Naruto was learning. "Now kekkei genkai are categorized into three types. The one we will be talking about today are chakra-based kekkei genkai."

"Okay. What did you mean that your Futton and Yoton were kekkei genkai, but at the same time they weren't?" asked Naruto.

"It is like this, Naruto-kun. They are classified as kekkei genkai simply because it takes great skill for a single person to be able to combine two different chakra elements. Even someone like Kakashi would have trouble without his Sharingan."

"But you're able to use two different element combinations! How's that possible?" questioned Naruto.

Mei smiled at the young blond. "My clan was known for their skill with chakra."

It wasn't a complete lie. The Uzumaki Clan did have great chakra reserves and knew how to use it.

"I guess that makes sense," muttered Naruto, crossing his arms.

"Another reason as to why they are not kekkei genkai, especially my Yoton, is that the granddaughter of the current Tsuchikage can also use the Yoton and I know for a fact that I am not related to her in any way," explained Mei, suppressing a shudder at the thought of being related to the Tsuchikage.

"So how can you tell if someone has a real chakra-based kekkei genkai?" asked Naruto.

"Haku-kun, please put some chakra into the paper?" asked Mei, smiling at the boy.

Doing as he was asked, the paper in Haku's hand was soon encased in a thin sheet of ice.

"As you can see, Naruto-kun, Haku-kun's paper, as we already knew it would, was frozen. Now if Haku was someone who could combine the elements needed to make Hyoton techniques, that paper would have either split in two, became soaked to signified the water affinity, or possibly both. Having two elemental affinities is rare by the way"

"Stupid Sasuke, getting two elemental affinities," grumbled Naruto with a small pout. He then turned to Mei. "So Hyoton is a true chakra-based kekkei genkai?"

"Hai. As stated earlier, a kekkei genkai is a clan technique that is inherited by blood. The Hyoton is a Yuki Clan exclusive technique," explained Mei.

"Are their any other true chakra-based kekkei genkai?"

"Hai, but only two others are known, Naruto-kun. The first is the Mokuton, which is exclusive to the Senju Clan of Konohagakure. It originated with the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama, who used his Mokuton to create the forests that surround this village."

"Cool!"

"What is the other true chakra-based kekkei genkai, Mei-sama?"

Mei's visage became a bit darker. "What I am about to tell you needs to be kept secret. If necessary, I will tell anyone who needs to know. Understood?"

"Hai," answered the two boys.

"Good. The only other true chakra-based kekkei genkai that has been recorded is known as Enton and belongs to the Uchiha Clan."

"Nani?" cried Naruto, his eyes wide with shock. "How's that possible?"

"Keep quiet, Naruto-kun. Any information about Enton has been sealed away due to how dangerous it is and the process to gaining it. The only reason I know of it is because not only was my clan skilled with chakra, but we had knowledge about different types of elements so we knew how to counteract them."

"So you would know how to counter Enton techniques, Mei-sama?"

Mei let out a sigh of what sounded like defeat. "Unfortunately, no. The only known user of Enton was Uchiha Madara, who was quoted to be able to use Enton because of something known as the Mangekyo Sharingan."

"…Do you think Sasuke-teme will gain this Enton kekkei genkai?"

"Hopefully not, Naruto-kun. I have a feeling that both Hokage-sama and Kakashi-san will make sure that Sasuke will never gain the power of Enton."

"Bad enough he thinks he's so great just because of his Sharingan, I can only imagine how he'd act if he were to get a second kekkei genkai," muttered Naruto.

Mei smiled at Naruto. She now knew that Naruto had to get stronger, just incase he ever had to fight Sasuke in the future. Ao had sensed something dark within the boy and Kakashi confirmed to her during the trek back to Konoha from Nami no Kuni that Sasuke wanted revenge on his brother for the destruction of his clan. She put all of those thoughts away when she saw one of Kakashi's ninken running towards them, telling her that Naruto can now start on his wind training.

"Okay you two, we need to go meet with Naruto-kun's next instructor."

Nodding in consent, Naruto and Haku followed Mei as the group was led by the ninken to a different training field.

-:-

At Training Ground Ten, Team Ten were in the middle of training…at least they were supposed to. Shikamaru was lying on the grass looking up at the clouds while his friend Choji was sitting next to him eating a bag of chips. The last member, Ino, was starting to get annoyed with both them and their sensei, who was off to the side sitting under a tree and smoking one of his cigarettes. She was about to start screaming, but Choji spoke up first.

"Oi, Shikamaru, what do you think Asuma-sensei was talking with Kakashi-sensei about?"

"Probably something troublesome if I had to guess," replied the lazy boy.

"What if it had something to do with Sasuke-kun?" questioned Ino. "Why couldn't I have been on his team instead of Billboard Brow?"

Shikamaru threw a sideway glare towards the blonde. "Because it was obvious that the three of us were going to be a team regardless, Ino. Now stop being troublesome for once."

Ino felt her eye twitch and was about to hit Shikamaru, but stopped when the sound of voices were coming towards them. Team Ten looked up to see Naruto coming towards them and two people accompanied him that Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji didn't recognize.

"Who are those people with Naruto?" questioned Ino.

"Whoever they are, one of them looks to be a Kiri shinobi," said Choji as he pointed at Haku's forehead protector.

"I remember my dad saying something about some Kiri shinobi wanting to sign a treaty with Konoha. Why is Naruto hanging around them though?" wondered Shikamaru. "Troublesome."

Reaching Team Ten, Mei stepped forward and spoke to Asuma. "Are you the one who agreed to train Naruto-kun?"

"Hai. The name's Sarutobi Asuma," said the smoking monkey with a smirk. He then turned to Naruto. "You ready for this, Naruto? I'm sure Kakashi mentioned that wind chakra isn't easy to control."

"If I'm not willing to train my ass off to get stronger, I don't deserve to be a shinobi!" declared Naruto, his eyes shining with such intensity that said he was never going to back down.

"Good. Then let's begin," said Asuma with a grin.

Team Ten were surprised that their sensei was going to train Naruto and in elemental chakra at that. Ino was the one to speak up. "Hold on! What about us, Asuma-sensei? Shouldn't you be teaching us?"

"Ino, I'm not going to stop teaching you three, just like Kakashi is not going to stop teaching Naruto."

"You're just teaching Naruto as you are the only one who can help him with his wind affinity," spoke Shikamaru.

"That's right," said Asuma. "During the morning and day hours, I'll be teaching you three, while I'll teach Naruto during the afternoon."

"Still, what about us? Shouldn't we know what our elemental affinities are like Naruto does?" demanded Ino with a pout.

"Asuma-san, you didn't have them figure out their elemental affinity yet?" questioned Mei, raising an eyebrow.

"…We've been busy with battle tactics. I figured I'd save that for later," said Asuma, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

Letting out a sigh, Mei took out three pieces of the special chakra paper and handed one to each of Team Ten. She then explained what they had to do to find out their elemental affinity. Both Choji's and Shikamaru's chakra papers turned to dust, showing that they had the earth affinity. Ino's on the other hand…

"Eww! Why'd my turned to mud?"

Everyone else raised an eyebrow at that. Naruto was the first question his confusion.

"Mud? Is that a chakra element you forgot to mention, Mei-chan?"

"No, Naruto-kun," replied Mei with a giggle. "I have a feeling I know what happened. Yamanaka-san, what did the paper do first?"

"It got soaked and then turned to mud."

"I see. Congratulations, Yamanaka-san. You have both the water affinity and the earth affinity."

"I have two affinities?"

"That's a good thing, Ino! Mei-chan says that having two affinities is rare!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Really? What does Billboard Brow have for a affinity?"

"I think Kakashi-sensei said hers was earth while Sasuke-teme had fire and lightning."

Ino let out a squeal. "Not only am I better than Sakura, but I also have two affinities like Sasuke-kun!"

The others sweatdropped at Ino's actions and words.

"Is she always like this, Asuma-san," questioned Mei.

"Unfortunately," grumbled Asuma. "Alright, let's get back on track! Naruto, ready for your training?"

"You bet!"

"But Asuma-sensei!" whined Ino.

"Ino, stop being so troublesome," said Shikamaru, earning a glare from his blonde teammate.

"Ino…" started Asuma, only for Mei to interrupt.

"Asuma-san, if you wish, I would be willing to teach them their elements."

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Hai. Though my affinity is fire, I am very adept at Doton and Suiton jutsu."

"I'll have to pass. I'm not suited for elemental jutsu and I just find this troublesome."

"I'll have to pass as well. My chakra reserves are mainly for my clan's techniques," stated Choji as he took a bite of his chips.

With that, Shikamaru and Choji left the training ground, most likely to find a spot to watch the clouds and eat chips. Mei turned to the remaining member of the Ino-Shika-Cho.

"What about you? Are you still willing to train?"

"I'm ready when you are!" declared Ino, making Mei smile at her enthusiasm.

Over the next few weeks during the afternoons, Naruto trained with Asuma in chakra control, Fuuton jutsu, and wind manipulation, while Ino trained with Mei in Doton and Suiton jutsu, though it was soon found that Ino was more suited for Suiton. When it came to Doton, Ino could only perform low-level techniques.

During that time, Naruto and Ino surprisingly became friends, especially when Ino found out Naruto liked to garden. She even convinced him to share any gardening tips he had in exchange for any she had.

Soon, the Chunin Exams were going to begin and during their training, Naruto was able to learn a few low and mid-level Fuuton jutsu while Ino was able to learn a few low-level Doton jutsu and mid-level Suiton jutsu. According to Asuma and Mei, they were definitely ready for the exams.

-:-

Naruto was currently walking around Konoha looking for Mei, Kakashi, or Haku, hoping for a bit more training for the Chunin Exams in three days. He didn't find Kakashi, but he did find Mei and Haku, along with Ao and Chojuro, standing near the gate. He ran over to see what was going on.

"Ne, Haku, Mei-chan! What's going on?"

"Mei-sama is waiting for a team from Kirigakure to show up, Naruto-kun. They will be participating in the Chunin Exams," replied Haku.

"Really?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun," replied Mei, smiling at the blond. "Hopefully, they will be here soon."

"Considering who their Jonin instructor is though and who is on the team, I wouldn't be surprised that they stopped to argue," said Ao, clearly not happy about this.

"Why would they argue?" asked Naruto.

Naruto soon got his answer when the sound of arguing could be heard down the road. Walking down the road and coming down the road was a small group of four people. The tallest, who Naruto suspected to be the Jonin instructor, had long green hair with two bangs that fell between his eyes and to the sides of his nose, thick eyebrows, and bandages that were wrapped around his upper body.

The next member was a boy with spiky black hair. He wore pin-stripped leg and arm guards over a blue long-sleeved shirt and blue pants. From Naruto could tell, he didn't look very strong, but as Kakashi had taught him, he had to look underneath the underneath. As far as he knew, this Kiri shinobi could have something hidden.

The third member was a girl with short sea foam green hair and dark green eyes. She wore an outfit similar to Mei's but it was less revealing and had no fishnets. Something told Naruto not to mess with her.

The last member, who was arguing with the Jonin instructor, had white hair with a blue tint to it and purple eyes. He wore a purple sleeveless shirt, grey pants, and a belt around his waist that had water bottles hanging from it. What really grabbed both Naruto and Haku's attention though was the blade on the boy's back.

The two were about to jump over and attack, but Mei stopped them before they could do anything.

"Do not take any unnecessary action, you two. Wait until they're here and then ask why he has that blade," stated Mei, also confused on why the boy had the Kubikiribocho.

When the team of Kiri genin reached the gates, the white-haired boy flashed his shark-like teeth with a sneer as he noticed both Naruto and Haku staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"What the hell you looking at?"

"Where'd you get that sword?" demanded Naruto. Mei, Ao, and Chojuro sweatdropped at Naruto's bluntness and lack of tact.

"What's it to you!"

"That was Zabuza-sama's blade and was acting as his grave marker. Why did you take it?" demanded Haku, pulling out some senbon.

"Heh, so you're the idiots who just left this blade out in the open, huh?" questioned the boy with a sneer.

"Suigetsu, I don't think we should be fighting. We might be banned from participating in the Chunin Exams," said the other boy on Suigetsu's team

"Kiri's right, Suigetsu. Just tell them where you got the stupid sword so we can be on our way," said the Kirigakure kunoichi.

"It's not a stupid blade!" yelled Suigetsu, Haku, and Naruto, glaring at the girl. Suigetsu looked over at Naruto and Haku, wondering why the blade seemed important to them.

"If you really want to know how I got the Kubikiribocho, I had to get it back from this one guy by the name of Daikoku Tenzen," explained Suigetsu.

"Tenzen?" asked a shocked Haku.

"You know the guy, Haku?" asked Naruto.

"Hai. He was a crime boss who lost many men to Zabuza-sama during Zabuza-sama's attempted coup of Kirigakure. My guess is Tenzen took Zabuza-sama's blade as an act of revenge. Tell me, does Zabuza-sama's resting place at least have another grave marker to replace his blade."

"You think I'm stupid not to leave something? Zabuza may have been a traitor to our village, but he still deserves respect. I left my old katana as his grave marker and took his blade so no one else could have. It's too bad though that Zabuza is dead, since that would mean the entire former generation officially gone from this world," stated Suigetsu, clenching his fists as he thought of his brother. "But I guess with Kubikiribocho in my possession now, I'm officially a member of the new Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, heh, heh."

"…Aren't you a little young to be a member?" questioned Naruto.

"You obviously no nothing, especially since you're wearing bright orange!" yelled Suigetsu, making Naruto's anger rise up a bit at that crack about orange. "I'm Hozuki Suigetsu, a member of the Hozuki Clan! When it comes to using swords, I'm a natural!"

"That has nothing to do with your clan, gaki!" said the Jonin with a growl.

"Bite me, Raiga!"

"Enough! Raiga, must you and Suigetsu-kun continuously argue over the littlest things?" questioned Mei, frowning at Raiga.

"Not my fault I got stuck teaching a stuck up brat."

"Watch it, Raiga, or this "stuck up brat" as you call me will beat you and then take your Kiba blades!" growled Suigetsu, glaring at his sensei.

"I said enough!" yelled Mei, now glaring at the Kirigakure shinobi. "As long as you are here in Konoha, you are to act like proper shinobi and not fight amongst each other. We are guests here and we will not have them think poorly of Kirigakure because of your actions. Is that understood?"

"…Hai," relented Team Raiga.

"Good," said the redhead as the group started walking towards the Hokage Tower so Team Raiga could sign up for the exams

"Oi, Mei! You still trying to get the Hokage to sign that treaty? Yagura's been wondering what is taking so long?" questioned Raiga.

"Hai, but the Hokage is still weary of making the treaty, given Kirigakure's history and all," said Mei, the lie slipping easily off her tongue.

"Figures and who the hell is that little blond gaki following us?" growled Raiga, glancing back at Naruto, who was talking with Kiri, Haku, and Suigetsu.

"Oh, that's right. Introductions were never made," said Mei. She then turned to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, did you happen to introduce yourself yet?"

"Huh?"

"Introduce yourself, Naruto-kun. Especially since there could be a chance Suigetsu and the others could be your opponents during the exams, it would be best to at least know their names and vice-versa."

"Oh right! My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be the future Hokage!" exclaimed Naruto with a fox-like grin.

"Like you have what it takes to be a Kage. I can already tell you won't even make it as a Chunin after these exams," said the girl of Suigetsu's team.

"Nani?" cried Naruto, glaring at the girl now.

"Ah shut up, Sashimi. You don't even know what you're talking about," stated Suigetsu, earning a glare from Sashimi. The young swordsman turned to Naruto. "Hokage, huh? Well good luck with that, Naruto. Personally, there'd be no way I'd be able to be Mizukage back home."

"Why's that?" asked the blond.

"…If you really want to know, my great grandfather happened to be the Nidaime Mizukage."

"Whoa! You're related to a Kage?" wondered Naruto, excitement in his eyes.

"That's right and that's one reason I wouldn't want to be a Kage. I want to make a name for myself instead of walking in Hozuki-oyaji's footsteps. That's why I plan on gathering all of the swords of the Seven Swordsmen and becoming the strongest swordsman in the world!" exclaimed Suigetsu, having the same type of excitement in his eyes that Naruto had.

"Psh, if you think you can take my Kiba blades from me, gaki, you're sorely mistaken," said Raiga with a smirk.

Suigetsu would have launched himself at his sensei, but was held back by Kiri. 

"Don't, Suigetsu. You know he's just trying to get a rise out of you," said Kiri.

Shrugging off his teammate's hand, Suigetsu relented and decided to ignore Raiga…for now. Suigetsu was going to get back at him one day.

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**And we end there for now. This chapter was a lot more fun to write than the last one. Probably because it was mostly original and also the somewhat the start of the Chunin Exam Arc.**

**Anyway, where to begin. Firstly, as you can see, changes to canon were made. Then again, you all probably already knew that, what with Mei being Naruto's aunt after all.**

**The first change was that I changed the Uzumaki Clan from being seal masters to element scholars. Honestly, I do not like the canon version of the Uzumaki Clan. They seem way too powerful, what with being seal masters, being able to live a very long time, being able to subdue Biju without having to be Jinchuriki (that is if those chains Kushina used were an Uzumaki technique). I toned them down by making them element scholars, knowing the strengths, weaknesses, and how to counter any and all elemental chakra. That does not mean though that Naruto is going to become a powerhouse and have all different kinds of ninjutsu. He will just have Futon jutsu and vast knowledge of everything else as the story goes on.**

**Second change in canon was that Suigetsu retrieved Zabuza's blade much earlier than he normally would and that he is on a team with Raiga Kurosuki as his Jonin instructor (this will play a much bigger role much later on) and Kiri as a teammate. To those who don't know, Kiri is a Kirigakure shinobi who was introduced in the Forth Shinobi War Arc and he is a medic nin. I have no idea how old he really is and neither does anyone else as there is nothing official yet. Since I needed Suigetsu to have teammates though, I decided to make Kiri be the same age as Naruto and Suigetsu, which is twelve currently.**

**Sashimi, if you haven't guessed, is unfortunately an OC. I wanted a female member for Suigetsu's team, but there were no Kirigakure shinobi that could fit the role. She won't have a large part in the story though, so no worries there.**

**I also made it where Suigetsu was the great grandson of the Nidaime Mizukage since the Nidaime Mizukage was from Hozuki Clan, Granted, there is no official relationship between the two, I just thought it would be cool for Suigetsu to be related to such an awesome character.**

**Moving on to the elemental lessons. Hopefully, I put down a believable reason down about how Mei's Yoton and Futton cannot be kekkei genkai. Kekkei genkai as we all know are supposed to be techniques that can only used by those with certain genetics, most of which come from certain clans. Hyuga have Byakugan, Yuki have Hyoton, so how is it that Mei and the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, both are able to have Yoton if they are not from the same clan. Because of that I came up with the whole false and true chakra-based kekkei genkai. Speaking of chakra-based kekkei genkai, as stated earlier, the only ones that do indeed belong to certain clans are the Yuki's Hyoton, the Senju's Mokuton, and the Uchiha's Enton, with Enton being the most mysterious and virtually unknown of the three.**

**With Team Ten, I gave them mostly the earth affinity, with Ino also having the water affinity. This was mostly because of her love of flowers and plants; she could use her affinities to help with her gardening. As to the relationship between Naruto and Ino, they will not go anywhere pass the friendship stage.**

**Now on to something I am sure everyone wants to know. The pairings. First off, there will be no harem, nor will there being any Naruto x Mei, both of which I am sure is the reason most of you started reading this fic. If it is not, then I thank you. If Naruto is going to be paired with anyone, and I'm sure this will cost me some favorites and alerts, it will be Hinata, but it will not be a big focus since this fic is about Mei and Naruto's relationship as aunt and nephew.**

**Well, I believe I covered everything. Hopefully this answered any and all questions you all had so far. Until next time.**

**Translations:**

**Futton: Komu no Jutsu – Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique**

**Yoton: Yokai no Jutsu – Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique**

**Katon – Fire Release**

**Suiton – Water Release**

**Doton – Earth Release**

**Fuuton – Wind Release**

**Raiton – Lightning Release**

**Yoton – Lava Release**

**Futton – Boil Release**

**Hyoton – Ice Release**

**Mokuton – Wood Release**

**Enton – Blaze Release**


	4. The Start of the Exams

Sunlight filtered through the window of Naruto's room, shining upon the sleeping blond. He grudgingly opened his eyes, wanting to stay asleep, but also wanted to get as much training as he could for the Chunin Exams in two days.

He sat up and let out a yawn as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. Once his mind was more coherent, his thoughts went back to the events of yesterday. After showing Team Raiga around Konoha, everyone went his or her separate ways for the rest of the day. Naruto and Haku, as they were heading to Naruto's new abode, encountered Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson, being picked on by an unknown person who was wearing an all black outfit and his face covered in purple war paint. Standing off to the side was a girl with dirty blonde hair in four pigtails and she did not look happy with the guy in black.

After getting Konohamaru away from the shinobi, Naruto and Haku learned that they were Sunagakure shinobi who were here for the Chunin Exams. Things were about to be finished, but then Sasuke, Sakura, and a redheaded boy with a large gourd strapped to his back. Sasuke had showed up to show off, from Naruto's perspective, but when the redhead showed up, which no one could sense him near, the two other Suna shinobi looked afraid, especially when the redhead threatened to kill them.

'_Gaara…'_ thought Naruto, remembering the name the redhead introduced himself by. _'There's something about him that tells me that he is not going to be easy to defeat in these exams. I'm definitely going to have to watch out for him.'_

Letting out another yawn, Naruto got out of bed and headed towards the kitchen where he could smell the breakfast that Haku was cooking.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," greeted Haku with a smile as Naruto entered the room.

Still tired, Naruto grunted out a greeting of his own. He then turned to the table to sit, but froze when he saw who was sitting there eating breakfast.

"Yo," greeted Suigetsu.

"What are you doing here?" exclaimed Naruto, pointing at the Kirigakure shinobi.

"Eating breakfast. What does it look like," replied Suigetsu.

"Mei-sama thought it would be best if Suigetsu-san stay here instead of with his team at the hotel," explained Haku as he placed a plate of food on the table for Naruto.

"…Why?"

"She didn't want me and Raiga to get into another fight apparently. Damn bastard would have lost against me anyway," muttered Suigetsu, taking a bite of his breakfast afterwards.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you like your sensei?"

"Damn bastard doesn't deserve to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen," growled Suigetsu through gritted sharpened teeth. "He's nothing more than a poser who got lucky in wielding Ameyuri's blades."

"Who?"

"Ringo Ameyuri, former wielder of the Kiba blades. According to Zabuza-sama, she was one of the stronger members of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist during his generation and one of the few that he respected," explained Haku.

"Yeah, only problem was that she had to keep her gender a secret 'cause only men could be a member of the Seven Swordsmen. From what my brother Mangetsu told me, only he and Zabuza were the only ones who knew the truth about her and kept it secret for her 'cause of how skilled she was with a blade. It didn't matter to them that she was a woman."

"What happened to her?" asked Naruto.

"Her secret got out somehow and she was executed. My brother swore to find out who ratted her out," said Suigetsu, clenching his fists. "I plan on continuing his search."

"Zabuza-sama mentioned before that he also tried to figure out who revealed Ameyuri-sama's secret. He never could find the answers he sought," stated Haku with an air of sadness.

"Maybe Mei-chan could help? She wouldn't let something like this go unpunished!" exclaimed Naruto.

"He does have a point, Suigetsu-san. Mei-sama would gladly help."

"I'll think about it. Right now though, I need to restock on some supplies. Oi, Naruto, know any good weapon shops here in Konoha?"

"Yup! There's this one place I know of."

"Cool. We'll head over there after we eat!"

-:-

After breakfast, Naruto led Suigetsu to the weapon shop, with Haku trailing behind. The three now stood in front of the building.

"This is it? Doesn't really look like much," said Suigetsu, looking up at the shop.

"Still one of the best weapon shops Konoha has to offer. I used to come here all the time during the academy to get training tools," said Naruto. He then added in his head. _'Plus it was one of the only places that would let me in.'_

"Whatever. Let's go in."

The three entered the shop, which had a sign over the door signifying that it was known as Emporium Karin.

The jingling of a bell notified the purveyor of the establishment that customers had arrived.

"Ano, hello. Welcome to Emporium Karin. How may I help you today?"

Naruto, Haku, and Suigetsu looked over at the counter where the quiet voice came from. Standing behind the counter was a girl about their age with shoulder length brown hair and ruby red eyes.

"Yeah, where do you keep the polish and whetstones? I need to restock and keep my blades in good condition."

"O-Of course! Follow me please."

Stepping out from behind the counter, the girl led the three to wear the items Suigetsu needed were.

"Ne, where's the old man that use to run this place?" asked Naruto.

The stiffened at the question. "My father passed away recently from illness, so I had to take over and run his store. My name is Karin, by the way."

Her eyes were filled with sadness. Sadness that both Haku and Suigetsu were familiar with as it was similar to the sadness they had when Zabuza and Mangetsu died. Granted it wasn't the same as the two swordsmen were killed in battle and Karin's father died of illness, but loosing a family member was the same regardless.

Suigetsu looked through the items on the selves as he spoke. "Look, this may sound harsh, but you need to get over it."

"N-Nani?" stuttered Karin as she looked at the white-haired boy with wide eyes.

"Suigetsu-san is right, though I think the wording could be different. You are sad that your father is gone and that's understandable, but you do have to move on," said Haku.

"B-But…"

"I know what you're going through. I lost someone close to me as well, but I had to move on. I'm sure my sensei, who I saw as a father, wouldn't have wanted me to be sad and depressed all the time, just like I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to be like that either," explained Haku, a sad smile on his face as he remembered Zabuza.

Silence hung in the air, but was soon broken by Suigetsu when he picked up four bottles of polish and three whetstones. "I'll take these."

Paying for the items, Suigetsu sealed them into a scroll he had on hand; not noticing the glances Karin was giving Haku. The three boys then turned to leave.

"Arigatou, ano…"

"My name is Haku."

"Arigatou, Haku-kun," said Karin, thanking him for his words.

"You're welcome, Karin-san."

As the three shinobi left the store, Karin went to the door and watched them walk away. The three didn't notice a certain redhead watching them from the shadows of the alleyway.

'_Well this is interesting. I had hoped that Naruto-kun, Haku-kun, and Suigetsu-kun would have become friends during Suigetsu-kun's stay here in Konoha. Luckily, they seem to have done just that. I didn't think though that Haku-kun would gain an admirer in the process,'_ thought Mei as she watched Karin, whose eyes lingered on Haku's retreating form. She gave a small smile. _'Things just keep getting interesting.'_

-:-

The day of the Chunin Exams arrived. The last two days for Naruto were filled with training as he prepared for today. Right now, he, Sasuke, and Sakura were heading to the Academy where the first stage was to take place. Just as they arrived, Team Raiga also arrived, ready to enter the building.

"Oi, Suigetsu!" called out Naruto.

Suigetsu looked over to see who was calling him and gave a fanged smirk.

"Oi, Naruto. I hope you trained your ass off. I want a challenge for when we have to fight during these exams," stated Suigetsu.

"Same to you!"

Sakura was looking back and forth between Naruto and Suigetsu, wondering what was going on. Sasuke looked to be ignoring the two, but in actuality he wanted to know more about this Suigetsu and why he was carrying Zabuza's blade around. He also wanted to know where Naruto has been going to after training. He wouldn't normally care, but over the weeks after the mission in Nami no Kuni, Naruto has stopped asking Sakura out and that was admittedly odd. He wasn't blind to the fact that Naruto seemed to have made a "connection" with the redheaded Kirigakure kunoichi and Sasuke suspected that she was giving Naruto special training. That thought made Sasuke's blood boil a little as what made Naruto so special to get special training and from a non-Konoha shinobi at that.

"Suigetsu! Forget these fools and let's go!" ordered Sashimi, earning a glare from the Hozuki Clan member.

"Bite me, Sashimi! I don't take orders from you!"

"Can we please not fight amongst ourselves? We are a team after all," said Kiri, hoping to quell the fire.

Suigetsu let out a sigh. "Fine."

Team Kakashi and Team Raiga then went inside to find room three hundred. Heading further into the Academy, the two teams came across a group of other teams arguing with two older kids who were blocking the room they needed to get to.

"What's going on here?" questioned Kiri.

"It looks like those two aren't letting anyone through," replied Suigetsu, starting to get pissed.

"We need to go somewhere else," said Naruto quietly so the other teams wouldn't hear him. Team Raiga turned to him for an explanation. "I know this building like the back of my hand. We're on the second floor since we only climbed one flight of stairs. We need to go up one more floor."

Suigetsu gave a shark-like grin. "Then let's head up there now."

They were about to leave to head to their true destination, but halted when Sasuke decided to speak up.

"You can drop the genjutsu. We know that this isn't room three hundred."

Naruto and Suigetsu turned back to Sasuke and looked at him as if he grew a second pair of arms.

"D-Did he just do what I think he just did?" demanded Suigetsu.

"It looks to be that way, Suigetsu," said Kiri with a sigh.

"Why did you do that, teme?" demanded Naruto.

"Keep quiet, dobe. Staying here is a waste of time when we should be finding the real room for the exams," replied Sasuke.

"Ever think that the exams started as soon as we entered the building, you idiot? This could have been part of the exams and you just gave away the answer!" yelled Suigetsu with a glare. Members of some of the other teams also sent glares towards the Uchiha while others laughed.

Sasuke glared back at Suigetsu. He realized that revealing the genjutsu may have been a mistake, but he was not going to admit that, especially to a foreign shinobi. The young Uchiha just gave a scoff and went towards the stairs, with Sakura following close behind him, so he could get to the correct room.

"Friendly little bastard, isn't he?" said Sashimi with much sarcasm.

"Who cares? Let's just get going," said Suigetsu as his team and Naruto followed after Sasuke and Sakura.

The small group made their way towards the stairs, but had to cross what looked like a large training hall to get to them.

"Wait!" called out a voice just as the group was about to leave the room.

Turning around, the two teams came face-to-face with a boy wearing a skintight green jump suit, orange leg warmers, his black hair in a bowl cut, and fuzzy caterpillar-like eyebrows.

'_What the hell?'_ was the thought that crossed Naruto's, Suigetsu's, and Sashimi's minds.

"I am Rock Lee, Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast and I wish to challenge Uchiha Sasuke to a fight!"

Sasuke gave a smirk as he accepted the challenge.

"You must really not want to participate in these exams, huh?" said Suigetsu, earning a glare from Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, we should just go to the exam room," said Sakura.

"Keep quiet. I'm going to show this so-called shinobi that he's way over his head," said Sasuke as he faced Lee and got into his taijutsu style and activated his Sharingan.

The fight didn't last long. Sasuke was surprised by how fast Lee was and how easily he could have been defeated had someone not interfered. The one who interfered, much to the horror of everyone's eyes, was a man who looked to be an older version of Lee, as the man was wearing a similar outfit.

After seeing Lee get reprimanded and almost being caught in some strange genjutsu involving a sunset, Team Kakashi and Team Raiga made it to the exam room.

"What the hell was that about?" cried Suigetsu. "I think I'm scarred for life."

"You? We all unfortunately witnessed that atrocity, Suigetsu!" hissed Sashimi.

Before Suigetsu could retort, a howl from outside the entryway was heard. Entering the room were three people around the same age as Naruto and the others. The first to enter was a wild looking boy with shaggy brown hair and red markings that looked like fangs on his cheeks. Peeking out from his grey cost was a small white puppy who gave a little yip. The second was a taller boy whose face was partially hidden by the collar of his coat and the sunglasses he wore. Unlike the first boy, this boy was mostly quiet. The last one was a young, lavender-eyed girl who wore a baggy cream-colored jacket and had indigo-colored hair in a short, leveled hime-cut style. She blushed slightly when she caught sight of Naruto.

Not soon after they entered did Team Asuma enter the room. Once they entered, Ino went over to Naruto, surprising Sakura, who thought the blonde would have tried to flirt with Sasuke.

"Oi, Naruto! You keeping up with your training?" questioned Ino, a smirk on her face.

"I should be asking you that, Ino," replied Naruto with a fox-like grin.

The dog-like boy looked back and forth between the two blond/es, wondering when they became friendly. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

"Naruto's been training with Asuma-sensei for the last few weeks, Kiba," explained Choji, in-between mouthfuls of chips.

Seeing the confused looks on the rest of the Rookie Nine, Shikamaru explained further. "Troublesome. Naruto is the same elemental affinity as Asuma-sensei, which is why they were training together. At the same time, Ino was training with Terumi Mei, who was teaching her how to use her water and earth affinities."

"Shikamaru's right. Speaking of affinities, what about you guys? What are your affinities?" asked Naruto, turning to Team Eight.

"Heh, if you really want to know, I'm a fire affinity," boasted Kiba with a smug look.

"Arf!" agreed Akamaru, the little puppy in Kiba's jacket.

"How 'bout you, Shino?"

"I too am of the fire affinity, Naruto-san," replied the bug user of the Rookie Nine in a monotone voice.

Naruto then turned to the last member of Team Eight, who ducked her head, hoping he wouldn't see her blush.

"Ano, I have the water affinity, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes lit up at that. "Really, Hinata? Ne, ne, we should train together sometime! If we could combine my Futon jutsu with one of your Suiton jutsu, we could make some pretty cool Hyoton jutsu. Though they probably wouldn't be as strong as Haku's jutsu, but still…"

Hinata's blushed deepened when Naruto said that he wanted to train with her. It took all of her willpower not to faint right then and there.

"Naruto!" hissed Ino, glaring at her fellow blond. "Did you forget that I also have Suiton jutsu? Why didn't you ask me to train with you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I actually didn't think any of that until just now."

Ino was about to strangle Naruto, but was stopped when a voice spoke up.

"Do you think you rookies could keep it down? You are making a scene after all."

The four teams turned to the source to see an older boy. He had gray hair, purple clothes, and wore glasses.

"Who are you to tell us what to do?" demanded Sashimi, glaring at the boy.

"I think you should listen, considering that the other teams would agree," said the boy, pointing at the others in the room.

The four teams of rookies looked over and saw that the others here for the exams looked at them with glares that held much ferocity and annoyance.

"This doesn't look good," said Kiri.

"If any of them try anything, I'll take them out myself," stated Suigetsu.

"Let me give you some advice. Never get on someone's bad side or else," said the gray-haired boy.

"Who are you anyway?" questioned Kiba.

"Where are my manners? My name is Yakushi Kabuto and if you need advice on these exams, I'm the one to talk to."

"What do you mean?" questioned Naruto.

"Well, this is my seventh time taking these exams, so I'm somewhat of an expert," explained Kabuto with a smile. "In fact, over the years I have been able to collect data on different ninja because of that."

Kabuto took out a deck of cards from his pocket and showed them to the rookies.

"What are these?" asked Kiri.

"These are ninja info cards. With these, I have information on anything from individual shinobi to the different villages across the elemental nations."

Kabuto put some of his chakra into the first card and soon a map showing the different villages appeared.

"As you can see this map shows all villages participating in the exams, from high ranking villages like Konohagakure and Kirigakure to low ranking newcomer villages like Otogakure."

Kabuto was about to go on, but was interrupted by Sasuke. "Hn. You said you have information on other shinobi. I want you to look up three of them."

"Oh? Who just might they be?" questioned Kabuto.

"Gaara of Sunagakure, Rock Lee of Konohagakure, and Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure," replied Sasuke, surprising the other rookies.

"Names and the villages they come from. That will make it easier to find."

Before Kabuto could search through his cards for the information, a small bullet of water pierced through the deck, destroying the cards. Looking up, Kabuto saw Suigetsu with his finger pointed at his cards as if he was holding a gun.

"Any reason why you did that?" demanded Kabuto, barely holding in his anger.

"I had to. Those cards could put everyone in danger," replied Suigetsu with a shrug.

"How could they have done that?" asked Sakura.

"Think about it. This guy said he failed the Chunin Exam seven times. That basically implies that he's a weakling. If an enemy shinobi captured this guy, they could use his ninja info cards to find weaknesses of any shinobi across the elemental nations. Destroying them insures the safety of everyone," explained the young swordsman.

The other rookies agreed with Suigetsu's explanation, though both Kabuto and Sasuke were seething, albeit for different reasons.

'_Damn it! I was about to find out if the dobe truly gotten stronger. If he did, then that just proves he's been getting special training when he shouldn't! I will find out, dobe. Just wait.'_

'_Damn that Hozuki boy. Orochimaru-sama will not be pleased when he finds out that my data cards have been destroyed. Though the Hozuki boy did bring up a point by pointing out the flaw of my cover. How could I be so careless?'_

Kabuto and Sasuke's seething was interrupted when there was poof of smoke spouting at the front of the room. When the smoke cleared, there stood a tall man wearing mostly black and his face covered in scars.

"Listen up, maggots! I am Morino Ibiki and the proctor of the first part of the exams, so welcome to hell!"

-:-

Meanwhile, the jonin instructors for the genin teams were at the tower that was in the middle of the Forest of Death, waiting if their teams would make it pass the first part of the exams and then the second part.

Kakashi was currently reading his book while at the same time ignoring Gai, who was going on about the youthfulness of this generation's genin.

Asuma looked bored as he sat on the couch with a cigarette in his mouth. Sitting next to him was a red-eyed woman with shoulder length black hair, who had her eyes narrowed on Kakashi.

"Kakashi, do you have to read that smut in public?" questioned the woman.

"Do you have to sit next to Asuma, Kurenai?" retorted Kakashi, not looking up from his book.

"I can sit here if I want!"

"And I can read what I want. Glad we got that out of the way," said Kakashi, looking up to give Kurenai an eye smile.

Kurenai's eye started to twitch in annoyance while Asuma let out a chuckle. The Genjutsu Mistress was about to retort when…

"Hello, Kakashi-san."

The scarecrow looked up and was surprised to see Mei, Ao, and Haku standing there.

"Mei-san? What are you doing here?" asked Kakashi.

"A few reasons. Haku-kun here will be helping with the medical shinobi on healing any of the participants of the exams."

"Did the old man approve of this?" questioned Asuma as he lit up another cigarette.

"Hai, Hokage-sama thought it would be a good idea," replied Mei with a smile. "The other reason was that I wanted to see the other genin who will be participating in action."

"That and to make sure Raiga doesn't do anything stupid," muttered Ao. The swordsman in question must have overheard as he was making his way over.

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Considering how you and Suigetsu-kun get along, it's obvious what it means," replied Mei.

"That brat starts it most of the time," growled Raiga. He then noticed that Chojuro wasn't there. "Oi, where's that Chojuro kid?"

"Chojuro-san would be at Ichiraku Ramen right now," answered Haku.

"I'm guessing Naruto got him hooked then," said Kakashi.

Mei let out a giggle. "Not quite. While Naruto did show us Ichiraku Ramen, Chojuro-kun apparently became smitten with the girl who works there."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that. "Really now? So Ayame-san has an admirer. Interesting."

While Kakashi and Mei continued to talk, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai had there own conversation.

"Who exactly is that woman?" questioned Gai.

"That would be Terumi Mei. Kakashi's team met her and her bodyguards during their mission in Nami no Kuni," replied Asuma.

"What's she doing here then?" asked Kurenai, getting suspicious.

"She's here mainly to try and strengthen a peace treaty between Konoha and Kiri. She's not all that bad actually," said Asuma with a shrug. He flinched a little when Kurenai gave him a glare.

"Not all that bad? Is there something you're not telling me, Asuma?" demanded Kurenai, a little bit of jealousy filling her.

"Nothing like that, Kurenai. She's actually been training Ino in elemental training while I've been doing the same with Naruto."

"Ah, to see foreign shinobi being so helpful, the Flames of Youth are burning bright!" exclaimed Gai, making Asuma and Kurenai sweatdrop.

"I think there's more to it, Gai," said Asuma. "Luckily, I don't think it's anything malicious though."

"How can you tell, Asuma? A shinobi's greatest weapon is deception," stated Kurenai, still a little worried.

Asuma gave her a smirk. "Sometimes being the son of the old man comes in handy. I can tell when someone is being deceptive and she shows no deception."

"I hope you're right, Asuma," said Kurenai with a sigh.

-:-

The first exam ended and the genin teams were trimmed down greatly. The teams were now following a barely dressed woman, who surprised the teams when she crashed through the window and said she was the next proctor, to the next phase of the exams to take place at the Forest of Death.

Once they reached the Forest of Death, the proctor, known as Mitarashi Anko, explained what the next test was and how each team were going to be given scroll and would have to find a team with the opposite scroll and take it from them.

"Well this is going to be fun," said Suigetsu with a smirk. "I wonder if any of the others here will be a challenge."

"Maybe. That team from Kusagakure looks strong and a little bit creepy," said Naruto, thinking of that creepy man who gave Anko's kunai back with his tongue.

"True. Something about him doesn't sit right with me," stated the Hozuki. He then noticed that his team was up to get a scroll. "Well, I'll see you at the tower, Naruto."

"Right back at you, Suigetsu!"

The two went over to their respective teams and then each headed to the gates of the training ground, ready to start.

Once the gates opened, all of the teams bolted into the forest, beginning their hunt for the other scrolls. Team Kakashi traveled deep into the forest when Naruto spoke up.

"Guys, can we stop for a bit? I need to take a leak!"

"Naruto no Baka! No one wants to hear that!" yelled Sakura, glaring at the orange clad ninja.

Stopping to let Naruto handle his business, Sakura was complaining about stupid blonds, while Sasuke was getting annoyed that their progress was slowing. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blasted through the forest, sending Sasuke and Sakura away from where they were waiting for Naruto.

"Well, well, it seems that I have found some new prey," said a voice.

Sasuke and Sakura looked up to see the Kusa ninja from earlier.

"Wh-Who are you?" questioned Sakura, fear heard in her voice.

"I'm the one who will be killing you today," said the Kusa shinobi with an evil smile.

-:-

With Naruto, he was finishing up his business when he heard something from behind. Turning around, he saw that a giant snake was slithering its way towards him. Before Naruto had a chance to do anything, the snake lunged and swallowed Naruto whole.

"Oh come on!" shouted Naruto from inside the snake's throat. He then made the hand sign for his signature jutsu. "Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

As Naruto created the doppelgangers, the snake started to expand until it could take the pressure and exploded into chunks of meat, leaving a slime-covered Naruto behind.

"This just feels wrong," said Naruto with a grimace. As he stood up, he heard the sounds of screams coming from where his teammates were. "That was Sakura!"

Just as the fox boy was about to speed off to save his friends, another giant snake appeared behind him ready to eat him like the first tried to do. Except this time the snake didn't have a chance as its head was separated from its body with one clean cut. The weapon that did the deed, a fuma shuriken, flew through the air and returned to Naruto's hand, where he folded it and sealed it back into his weapon pouch.

"Time to find the others."

-:-

Sasuke was currently trying to fight off the Kusa shinobi. The young Uchiha was soon able to bind the enemy to a tree with some ninja wire and then used his **Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu** to incinerate the man.

"Kukuku, it seems that you missed, Sasuke-kun," laughed the man who appeared behind Sasuke. The man's disguise was gone and standing there was a pale looking man with snake-like eyes and long black hair.

Sasuke's eye widened in fear when he heard that voice. Looking over to where he thought the man's charred corpse should've been, he saw nothing but a pile of mud.

"H-How…?"

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun? You didn't actually think you could win did you?"

Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but he was far outmatched. If he wanted to live so he could hunt down his brother, he had to basically quit these exams. Going into his pack, he took out the heaven scroll his team was given in the beginning.

"This is what you want, right? Let us live and you can have it," declared Sasuke.

"Kukuku, interesting. Trying to tempt the predator with a different type of prey. You just keep exceeding my expectations, Sasuke-kun."

The man reached out his hand to take the scroll, but a flash of orange came between the man and Sasuke, taking the scroll.

"What are you doing, dobe?" demanded Sasuke, glaring at Naruto.

"I should be asking you that, teme! Since when do you give up?"

"Stay out of this, dobe! This man will kill us if we don't hand over the scroll!"

"And what makes you think he won't kill us once he has the scroll?" questioned Naruto.

"Kukuku, you should listen to your friend, Sasuke-kun. **Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**"

In a puff of smoke, the man was now standing on the head of a large snake, larger than the ones Naruto dealt with earlier. The snake lunged forward towards Sasuke, making the onyx-eyed boy flinch back in fear. The jaws of the serpent never came down upon him though. Opening his eyes, he saw that Naruto stopped the snake with a single to the snout. What really got Sasuke's attention, though, was the swirling red chakra that surrounded Naruto's body.

"You're not hurt, are you… scaredy-cat?" mocked Naruto, repeating what Sasuke asked him back in Nami no Kuni. That seemed to snap Sasuke out of what fear he had.

Orochimaru also noticed the chakra swirling around Naruto. _'So, it seems that this boy is the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Yoko. No matter, I'll deal with him and then get what I came here for.'_

The giant snake, not able to take the pain anymore, poofed away and Orochimaru then went on the attack. Wanting to deal with Naruto first, the tips of his fingers lit with purple flames. Just as the snake man was about to place the seal on the Kyubi influenced Naruto, he had to jump back when a stream of water came between the two.

Looking over to where the water came from Orochimaru found that it was Suigetsu who interrupted his jutsu.

'_Damn that Hozuki brat! I don't have time to waste with these two! I need Sasuke-kun now!'_

Seeing as sealing Naruto is now out of the question, Orochimaru went for his original target. Using the **Shunshin no Jutsu**, Orochimaru got behind Sasuke and bit down onto the left side of the back of the boy's neck, making Sasuke scream in pain. Naruto and Suigetsu were about to attack, but Orochimaru took the opportunity to escape and take Team Kakashi's scroll in the process.

With Orochimaru gone, the danger was gone as well. That allowed Naruto to revert back to normal. The two boys went over to Sasuke, who was panting hard in extreme pain. The two gently lifted him off the ground and went to find Sakura.

"What happened to Sasuke-kun?" questioned the worried girl once Naruto and Suigetsu found her.

"That snake guy did something to him," replied Naruto.

"Whatever it was, it left a nasty looking hickey," said Suigetsu as he watched three tomoe appear where Orochimaru bit Sasuke. "Looks like there's nothing we can do for now."

"Ne, Suigetsu? What are you doing here anyway?" asked Naruto.

"My team and I heard the battle from where we were and felt the chakra spikes, so I came to see what was going on. Kiri and Sashimi should be here shortly. Right now though we should find some shelter before the Uchiha here gets worse and to hide from the other teams."

Nodding in agreement, Naruto went up ahead to find shelter, while Sakura helped Suigetsu move Sasuke. Luckily they found shelter in the form of a small cave-like space under a large tree. Unknown to the group was that they were being watched from the trees by three shinobi with a music note on their forehead protectors.

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**I had to rewrite some parts of this chapter, mainly the Emporium Karin scene. To those who don't know, Emporium Karin and Karin herself are originally from the PS2 game, _Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles_. In the game, she is a depressed girl who must run the shop after father dies and throughout the game, opens up as she interacts with Naruto. I find her hilarious towards the end of the game since when you talk to her to buy supplies, she sounds like she's having an orgasm as she says Naruto's name.**

**Anyway, I originally had that scene only with Naruto and Suigetsu and it was to set up a Suigetsu x Karin pairing that would be mentioned or shown in minor pieces in the future. I changed it to be Haku x Karin as I thought of someone I think is better suited for Suigetsu.**

**Going to the scene before that, what do you think of how I did on Ringo Ameyuri's history? Even though there is no official statement on what gender Ameyuri is, I made the character a female since "-yuri" is a common suffix for girls' names in the same sense that "-maru" is for boys' names. I could also see it plausible that women would not be allowed to become swordsmen in Kirigakure.**

**As you saw, the first phase of the exams took place off-screen. This was mainly because there was nothing I could do or think of that could make it different from canon. So I put in the filler scene with the jonin.**

**Lastly we have the Forest of Death. I was originally going to have the whole Forest of Death part of the exams in this chapter and start the prelims right from the get go in the next chapter, but that might have made the chapter too long. So the rest of the Forest of Death will be next chapter. I also made it where Orochimaru didn't seal Naruto as I want to show some of Naruto's new techniques during the prelims and he wouldn't be able to do that if he was sealed.**

**Before I forget, make sure to check out the 'Uzumaki Reunion' omake one-shot I posted recently. It takes place between chapters one and two. There will be more omake one-shots in the future.**

**Translations:**

**Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu – Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique**

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning Technique**

**Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique**


	5. Out of the Woods

Sakura let out a depressing sigh. Currently, she was wiping down Sasuke's brow with a wet cloth, thanks to Suigetsu leaving some of his water bottles, as the Uchiha seemed to be burning up from a fever. She had no idea how he contracted the fever, but felt it had something to do with the mark Orochimaru gave him. She was also waiting for Naruto and Suigetsu to return as they headed out to find Kiri and Sashimi when the sun rose. She just hoped no one found her current hiding place.

Her hopes were dashed though, when she heard laughter and a voice calling out for her.

"You might as well come out, Pinky, or we'll blast you out!"

Knowing that if she didn't go out there, Sasuke would get hurt, so gathering what courage she had, Sakura left the cave and faced the three Oto shinobi.

"She doesn't look like much," said a boy with an evil smirk. He had tall spiky black hair.

"You're right, Zaku. She's an embarrassment to real kunoichi," said the girl of the Oto shinobi. She had long black hair that stopped just below the shoulders.

"Don't get overconfident, you two. We need to stay focused," said the last member, who looked like a mummy with all the bandages around his head. He then turned to Sakura. "Hand over the Uchiha."

"Why?" demanded Sakura.

"So we can kill him," stated Zaku with an evil grin.

"I won't you do that!" exclaimed the cherry blossom, a look of determination on her face.

"We'll see about that!" declared Zaku as he rushed forward.

The Oto shinobi was about to strike but had to jump back when a large log came swinging down from the canopy.

"What the hell?" shouted the Oto kunoichi, Kin.

"Looks like we underestimated this girl," stated the mummy, Dosu. "She must have set up traps during the night."

"Little brat is going to pay!" shouted Kin.

Kin tried her luck to get to Sakura, but had trouble trying to doge the barrage of kunai and shuriken.

"…Are you done, Kin?" questioned Dosu, looking quite bored.

"Shut up, Dosu! I don't see you trying to kill her!"

"That's because I'm going to kill her," stated Zaku. **"Zankuha!"**

Raising his arms, Zaku sent out sound waves from his hands towards Sakura. Luckily for Sakura, another giant log came swinging down and took the attack, shattering into wooden slithers. Dosu and Kin took this opportunity to strike. Kin got behind Sakura and held her by her long hair while Dosu went for Sasuke. Just as Dosu was about to reach Sasuke though…

"**Konoha Senpu!"**

…Rock Lee came flying through with a spin kick, knocking Dosu away. Kin and Zaku were so surprised by this intrusion that Sakura used it as an opportunity to free herself by cutting her hair with a kunai.

"I will not allow you hurt Sakura-san!" declared Lee, getting into his Goken style.

"Annoying brat. You actually think you can fight all three of us?" questioned Dosu.

"Yosh! I will fight all three of you and protect Sakura-san! For I am the Rock Lee, the Beautiful Green Wild Beast of Konoha!" declared Lee.

Before Dosu or the others could respond to that, Lee dashed forward. Dosu raised one his arms, hoping to block the oncoming attack, but he underestimated Lee's strength. Luckily for the Oto shinobi, his gauntlet protected his arm from being broken by Lee's kick.

Zaku raised his own arms, ready to use his **Zankuha**. When he released the jutsu though, Lee was too fast and dodged it. Lee used his speed to get in close to Dosu and then kick him skyward. Jumping up to follow, Lee wrapped Dosu up in his bandages. Lee followed this up by spinning downward, ready to pile-drive Dosu into the ground.

"**Omote Renge!"**

As they reached closer to the ground, Zaku used another **Zankuha** to cushion the blow. Lee was surprised to see his technique be countered so easily and this gave Dosu the time he needed to use his own jutsu.

"**Kyomeisen!"**

Lee tried to dodge this attack like he did Zaku's, but unfortunately it was for not as when he landed, Lee felt dizzy and physically ill.

'_That must be the jutsu they used on Kabuto,'_ though Sakura, worried for Lee's safety.

"It's time we ended this!" declared Dosu.

The leader of the Oto team rushed forward, ready to finish off the disoriented taijutsu specialist when…

"**Nikudan Sensha!"**

A large rolling mass sped out of the forest and slammed into Dosu, sending him away from Lee. This gave Sakura the chance to grab Lee and pull him away from the battle.

"Geez, Forehead! Haven't you learned to fight yet? And where's Naruto at? He should be here helping you!" cried out a voice Sakura knew all to well.

Ino and Shikamaru jumped down from the trees and joined back up with Choji, reforming the Ino-Shika-Cho.

"First we have to deal with some useless pink-haired girl and then that freak with the eyebrows," started Kin, glaring at the newcomers.

"And now we've got some blonde bimbo, some lazy looking bastard, and a ninja wannabe fatass!" finished Zaku.

"This is going to become troublesome," muttered Shikamaru.

"It's their funeral," said Ino, glancing at her rotund teammate, who was shaking with what looked to be rage.

"Fat? Fat! I'm big-boned!" shouted Choji, glaring at Zaku. **"Baika no Jutsu!"**

Choji, with the help of his jutsu, expanded his body into a round shape. He then charged after Zaku with his **Nikudan Sensha**.

"Stupid fatass! You think you can stop me?" demanded Zaku. Using his signature jutsu, Zaku blasted Choji, slowing the Akimichi down.

Unfortunately, Zaku's jutsu wasn't strong enough as Choji was still barreling down on him. Zaku was barely able to get out of the way.

"This is getting out of hand, Dosu! We should just get out of here!" said Kin.

"No way! I'm not failing Orochimaru-sama. I will kill these brats," growled Zaku.

"Ignoring the over worshipping Zaku has for Orochimaru, he is right. We need to kill the Uchiha," replied Dosu.

That was when everything went downhill when a burst of evil chakra pulsed through the area. Everyone looked towards the spot the pulse came from to find that it came from the cave Team Kakashi was using for a hiding spot. Coming out of the cave was Sasuke, but covering half of his body were strange markings that only the Oto team knew what they were.

"Sasuke-kun?" wondered Sakura.

'_Those markings. If Orochimaru marked the Uchiha, why did he send us to kill him? Damn bastard must have wanted to test the Uchiha's new power,'_ thought Dosu, angry with his so-called leader.

Sasuke looked around the area and soon noticed the bruises Sakura had.

"Sakura, who did this to you?" demanded the Uchiha.

Before she could speak, Zaku foolishly spoke up with a sadistic look. "I'm the one who did that! Got a problem with it?"

Without warning, Sasuke disappeared with a burst of speed. First he appeared in front of Kin and gave her a kick to the stomach, sending her to slam into a tree. He then appeared behind Zaku, slammed him into the ground, and started to pull on his arms.

"It seems that you are pretty attached to these arms of yours. I wonder what you'd do without them," spoke Sasuke with a tone that sent shivers of fear down everyone's spines.

Their fear became greater when Zaku let out painful screams when his shoulders started to pop.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" stuttered Sakura, never seeing him act like this before.

"Ready to give up?" questioned Sasuke, his smile becoming more sadistic.

"S-Stop! I give! I give!" screamed Zaku, no longer able to take the pain.

"Too bad!" shouted the Uchiha.

Luckily for Zaku, Sasuke was blasted back by a stream of water. Jumping down from the trees were Naruto, Suigetsu, Kiri, and Sashimi.

"Kiri, heal up Sakura and the eyebrow kid. Sashimi, guard Kiri. Naruto and I can take care of Sasuke," stated Suigetsu as he withdrew the Kubikiribocho.

"Hai!" said Kiri and Sashimi, getting to their tasks.

"You two think you can beat me?" questioned Sasuke with a growl. He was glaring hatefully at the two.

"What's with you, teme?" asked Naruto, taking out his fuma shuriken. "And what's with those markings?"

Sasuke didn't waste any time and charged forward to start attacking Naruto. Kunai clashed against shuriken as the two fought. Suigetsu could only sweatdrop at this.

'_He's got two opponents and the Uchiha only goes after Naruto? He's either very stupid to ignore an opponent or he sees Naruto as the greater threat. Either way, that sort of thinking will be his downfall,'_ thought Suigetsu as he put his blade away and then went through a set of hand signs. Rushing forward, and silently thanking Naruto for keep Sasuke occupied, Suigetsu thrust his palm out towards Sasuke's head. **"Suiro no Jutsu!"**

Sasuke didn't have time to avoid the familiar jutsu. The water surrounded his head and the only thought going through his mind was to try and get rid of it. Unfortunately for him, his struggling made him loose air quicker and he soon passed out. Once that happened, the markings receded back and Suigetsu released the jutsu.

It was silent as everyone watched this. The first to make a move was Dosu, who gathered his two teammates. He then turned to Naruto and presented him with his teams scroll.

"Here. We give you our scroll and you let us go."

Reluctant to do so, Naruto accepted the scroll. "Fine. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

With a nod, Dosu took off with his teammates flung over his shoulders. Once they were gone, Ino came over and punched Naruto in the shoulder, hard.

"Itai!"

"Baka! Where were you when Sakura was being attacked?" demanded Ino, glaring at her friend.

"I was with Suigetsu looking for Kiri and Sashimi. How was I supposed to know Sakura would get attacked? I figured she and Sasuke would be safe in that cave!" explained Naruto, rubbing his arm.

"Speaking of the Uchiha, someone's going to have to give him CPR," said Suigetsu, noticing that Sasuke was becoming a bit blue in the face.

Upon hearing that, Sakura scrambled over to Sasuke and proceeded with CPR. The Uchiha soon started to cough up the water that was ingested into his lungs.

"Ugh, what happened?" questioned Sasuke, his hand on his head.

"You were bitten by that snake teme and then passed out. You're just now waking up," said Naruto, feeling that Sasuke didn't need to know what exactly happened.

"Hn," grunted Sasuke. He felt drained, so much so that he didn't even fight when Sakura slung his arm over her shoulders and led him back to the cave.

With them gone, Shikamaru walked over to Naruto.

"Think it was a good idea to keep Sasuke in the dark about what ever that chakra was?"

"…For now, yes. I think it might be best to tell Kakashi-sensei about it first and see what he thinks," replied Naruto.

"What were those markings on Sasuke anyway?" asked Ino.

"Probably something from that snake guy. He bit Sasuke's neck and left some weird mark where he bit," explained Suigetsu.

"Troublesome."

"I have to agree with you there, Shikamaru," said Naruto with a sigh.

"Lee-san! You shouldn't be standing just yet!"

The genin all turned to see Kiri trying to keep Lee from standing.

"But Kiri-san! I feel much better now, thanks to your medical jutsu and the flames of springtime youth!" exclaimed the taijutsu specialist. "Plus I must return to my teammates before they start to worry!"

The other could only sweatdrop at this.

"Oi, Centipede Brows! Why not stick around for a bit to rest up? Once you're completely healed, we'll help you find the rest of your team," offered Naruto with a fox-like grin.

"That will not be necessary," said a voice.

Walking into the clearing were two figures. One was a female, who had her brown hair tied into two buns, giving her the appearance of having panda ears. The other was a male, or at least Naruto and Suigetsu thought it was a male. Kind of hard to tell when he had long brown hair that ended at the small of his back. He also had white pupilless eyes that held much anger and hatred.

"Neji! Tenten! I was about to go and look for you once I was well rested!"

"Lee, why did you even run off in the first place?" questioned Tenten.

"Sakura-san was in trouble and as a fellow Konoha shinobi, she is an ally, thus I had to help her!"

"How foolish. It is every team for themselves during these exams, Lee. Do not trust anyone," stated Neji. He then turned around. "Now let's go."

Having to leave, Lee said his goodbyes to his friends and left with Neji and Tenten. Team Asuma also took their leave, not before Ino warned Naruto about making sure to protect his teammates though.

"So what should we do now?" asked Kiri.

"Isn't it obvious? We go and look for the second scroll we need," replied Suigetsu.

"Newsflash, Suigetsu, while you were out gallivanting, Kiri and I already acquired the other scroll we need," said Sashimi, glaring at her white-haired teammate.

"Really? Cool! Looks like we'll be heading to the tower now. See ya there, Naruto!"

"You can count on it!" called out Naruto as Suigetsu's team left. The orange clad ninja then went to check on Sakura and Sasuke. "You feeling better, teme?"

"Do I look better?" growled Sasuke, still with a headache from earlier.

"Leave Sasuke-kun alone, Naruto!" hissed Sakura.

"Okay then. I guess Sasuke doesn't want to pass these exams. I mean, we just need one more scroll and then we can head to the tower," said Naruto. He hid a smirk when he noticed Sasuke standing up halfway through his taunt.

"Let's go," said the Uchiha.

"But Sasuke-kun…"

"But nothing! We need to get the final scroll and get to the tower. I will not fail these exams!"

With that, Sasuke left the cave. Sakura was about to say more, but Naruto stopped her.

"It'd be useless to talk him out of it, Sakura. We're just going to have to keep an eye on him, okay?"

Sakura was going to yell at Naruto, but she had to admit that he had a point. In silent agreement, the two were going to make sure Sasuke didn't push himself too much.

-:-

After traveling further into the forest and not able to find any other team with the scroll they needed, Team Kakashi stopped to take a break.

"Why are we taking a break again?" asked Naruto.

"Because some of us don't have as much stamina as you, Naruto!" stated Sakura, giving the blond a small glare.

"Dobe, make yourself useful and scout the area."

As much as Naruto wanted to tell Sasuke off, he decided it'd be a waste of breath. Creating a few Kage Bunshin, Naruto and his clones went off in different directions.

The original Naruto traveled a few kilometers from the campsite when he heard a scream followed by a loud roar.

"What was that?"

Naruto sped towards where the sounds were coming from. When he arrived, he saw that a redheaded glasses wearing girl the same age as him was about to be killed by a large bear. Taking out his fuma shuriken, Naruto focused his wind chakra into it.

"**Fuuton: Kazaguruma no Jutsu!"**

He threw the wind-enhanced shuriken and watched it spin towards the bear. When the weapon connected with the ursine it went right through its neck, decapitating it. The redhead let out a screech of fear when the bear's head and body collapsed to the ground. Looking over to where the shuriken came from, she noticed Naruto walking towards her after he caught his shuriken.

'_Who is this guy?'_ she wondered to herself.

"Oi, you okay? You're not hurt are you?" asked Naruto when he got closer.

'_His chakra…it feels so warm.'_

"Anyone home?" wondered Naruto as he waved a hand in front of the girl's face.

"I'm okay!" said the girl as she pushed Naruto's hand away. "Arigatou…for saving me."

"No problem! I couldn't just stand by and let that bear-teme hurt someone," exclaimed Naruto with a fox-like grin. "What's your name anyway? Mine's Naruto."

"I'm Karin."

"Karin? Hehe, I know a Karin back in the village. Well Karin I should get going before my teammates start getting angry that I'm taking so long. Stay safe!"

Naruto turned and started to walk back to camp. As he walked he heard footsteps from behind him. Turning back around he found that Karin was following him.

"…Shouldn't you be heading back to your team, Karin?" asked Naruto, his face showing his confusion.

Karin shook her head in no. "I can't. That bear that almost killed me killed them. They tried to hold it off so I could get away since I'm not much a fighter."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Naruto, his eyes filled with sadness. He would not know what to do if Sasuke and Sakura were killed, even though Sasuke does annoy him.

"I was wondering if I could come with you until we get to the tower?"

"Well…I guess that'd be okay."

With a smile, Karin hurried up to match pace with Naruto. The two soon arrived back at camp and Naruto's teammates were confused as to what was going on.

"Who is this, Dobe?" questioned Sasuke, getting on guard.

"This is Karin, teme. She's going to travel with us to the tower."

Naruto then went on to explain why with Karin filling the details. Sakura felt sorry for Karin, but Sasuke wasn't buying it.

"You idiot! She could be an enemy ninja! She's even wearing the same style headband as that snake man!" exclaimed Sasuke, glaring at the two.

Naruto looked over at Karin to see that she was indeed wearing a Kusagakure forehead protector.

"Snake man?" questioned Karin.

"We fought some weird snake man earlier. What was his name again?"

"It was Orochimaru, Naruto. You would know this if you didn't skip class all the time during the academy," said Sakura with a sigh.

"Orochimaru? Isn't he one of the Sannin from Konoha? Why was he wearing a Kusagakure headband?" questioned Karin, starting to get worried. If Orochimaru somehow infiltrated her village, what could she possibly do?

Sakura explained that when they encountered Orochimaru he was disguised as a Kusa shinobi. When she described the disguise, Karin's eye started to tear up.

"Shiore is dead?"

"Who's Shiore?" asked Naruto.

"Shiore was a Kusa shinobi who was here with his team to partake in the Chunin Exams along with my team. If Orochimaru was disguised as Shiore then the real Shiore must be dead!"

"Don't worry, Karin! When we reach the tower we can tell Hokage-jiji about this and I'm sure he'll find Orochimaru and kick his ass!" exclaimed Naruto, confidant that Hiruzen won't let him down.

"You're an idiot, you know that, Dobe?"

"Bite me, teme!"

Sakura could only sigh at her teammates' behavior. She then turned to Karin. "While I'm not as enthusiastic as Naruto is, I agree that if we tell Hokage-sama he might be able to do something."

"Ha! Two against one, teme! You loose!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" yelled Sakura, so wanting to knock him on the head.

Karin could only sweatdrop. _'Whereas Naruto's chakra feels so warm, Sakura's feels…lukewarm? That's the best way to describe it. Sasuke's chakra for some reason is similar to Sakura's, yet it leans more towards being cold. I wonder why.'_

-:-

Team Kakashi, plus Karin, were now traveling at a faster pace due to Sasuke's insistence. Little did they know that they were being watched.

"Looks like we found some easy pickings."

"Good. Once we take their scroll we can advance and show everyone the power of Amegakure."

The three mysterious figures disappeared into the shadows, waiting for the time to strike.

Night soon fell and Team Kakashi set up camp for the night. Once that was done, Naruto stood up and head towards the woods.

"I'll be right back. Just need to take a leak."

He had to dodge an incoming rock that was thrown by Sakura.

"Stop being so disgusting!" screeched the cherry blossom.

Karin sweatdropped once again. She was surprised by how this team acted with each other.

'_Naruto is so nice, Sakura seems to only be nice to Sasuke, and Sasuke seems to look down upon Naruto and Sakura. Who thought putting these three together as a team was a good idea?'_

Karin's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a chakra source coming towards them. Looking at where the source was coming from, she saw Naruto walking back to camp.

"What took you so long, Naruto?" asked Sakura.

'_That's not Naruto! The chakra feels all murky instead of warm and sunny!'_

"When you got to go, you got to go," replied "Naruto".

"I have a question for you, Naruto?" asked Karin, getting on guard. She may not be a fighter, but she was going to fight this impostor if he did anything to her new friend Naruto.

"What would that be?"

"Why did you switch your kunai pouch to the other leg?"

The impostor Naruto stiffened at that, which gave him away to Sasuke, Sakura, and Karin. The three genin each took out a kunai ready to fight this impostor, but said impostor jumped back.

"If you think you can beat me then you're all delusional!" exclaimed "Naruto" with a wicked smirk.

Of course "Naruto" fearful image didn't have any effect since he was soon hit with two objects that were thrown from the tree line.

"Damn bastards trying to attack me while I'm peeing. Don't they know never to interrupt someone going to the bathroom?"

The other could only sweatdrop at Naruto's rant as the orange clad ninja stepped into the clearing.

"How did you manage to beat them?" questioned Sakura.

"I just used a Fuuton jutsu and blew them away," replied Naruto with a shrug.

He then had to focus on their opponents as the three started to get up. The impostor was now showing his true appearance. He, along with his cohorts, actually all looked the same with their tan jumpsuits and breathing masks. The only differences between them were the cloths around their eyes and their hair.

"Pathetic little whelps! You think you can beat us?" demanded the leader, who was the Naruto impostor. He had tall, wavy, spiky, brown hair and both of his eyes could be seen.

"I think we should show them what real shinobi are like," said the shinobi on the right of the leader. His hair was hidden by his bandana and only his left eye could be seen.

"I'm going to enjoy killing these brats," said the final member. His brown hair was shorter and less wavy than the leader's hair and his eyes were completely covered.

"You three sure about that? I mean I did just knock you three on your asses," taunted Naruto, making the three angry.

"Stupid brat! **Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

The three Amegakure shinobi created multiple clones of themselves, surrounding Team Kakashi.

"Nice trick, but I can top it! **Taiju** **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

If their faces weren't covered so much, the surprise on the faces of the Amegakure shinobi from seeing how a rookie could make so many Kage Bunshin could have been seen. That didn't stop them from carrying out their plan though.

As the fight commenced, Team Kakashi soon found out that the clones of the Amegakure shinobi were much different from standard clones as they somehow passed right through them.

"What the hell is going on here?" exclaimed Naruto, trying to take down his opponents.

"Just shut up and keep fighting, Dobe!" yelled Sasuke as he dodged an attacked.

Sakura and Karin were working together to fight some of the clones. Karin's head then jolted up and looked towards Naruto's position.

"Naruto! Coming up behind you from underground!" called out Karin.

"Nani?" called back Naruto. He then heard a crack from behind him so he quickly turned and thrust his fist out, landing a punch on something solid for once in this battle. Looking down, Naruto noticed that he just knocked out the leader. "Yatta! I got him!"

The battle soon turned more into Team Kakashi's favor. Karin informed Sasuke that one of their opponents was sneaking up on him from the right. Sasuke was able to defeat him with ease. Karin and Sakura then defeated the final member of the Amegakure team. With all three Ame shinobi defeated the clones disappeared and Naruto looked through their packs and found the scroll they needed.

"Now we can head to the tower!" exclaimed Sakura, happy that they would be able to get out of the forest.

"Let's go then," said Sasuke.

The four young genin took off, leaving the still unconscious Ame shinobi behind.

-:-

They arrived at the tower with three days to spare. Once they entered, Team Kakashi opened up the scrolls and with a puff of smoke, Iruka appeared before them. The academy teacher went on to explain what the heaven and earth scrolls represent and how shinobi need to have equal balance of both body and mind to make it in the world.

After coming out of teacher mode, it was then that Iruka noticed the forth person with Team Kakashi.

"…Naruto, who is this young lady?" asked Iruka, an eyebrow raised up in wonder.

"This is Karin, Iruka-sensei!"

"Okay, but why is she with you three instead of her own team?"

"Could we explain with Jiji present? That way we don't have to keep repeating it over and over again," suggested Naruto.

"…I suppose. Follow me then."

Iruka led the four children to a medium sized room away from the others to wait for the Hokage. When Hiruzen arrived, Naruto and Karin told him about what had happened.

"I see. I am sorry to hear about your teammates, Karin-chan," said the old monkey.

"Arigatou, Hokage-sama. What's going to happen to me now though? I can't go back to Kusagakure! What if Orochimaru is there?" exclaimed Karin, her eyes widening with fear.

'_Ah that's right. Orochimaru disguised himself as a Kusa shinobi and killed the original. There is a small chance that he could have Kusa under his command,'_ thought Hiruzen. He then spoke up. "I suppose until we can figure out what is truly going on, you may stay here in Konoha for the time being."

"Really?" wondered a surprised Karin. Team Kakashi were just as surprised.

"Of course you will need to undergo a small interrogation session beforehand. We can't take any chances."

"I understand, Hokage-sama," replied Karin.

With a nod, Hiruzen called for one of his ANBU. A tiger masked ANBU then appeared out of nowhere.

"Tora, please escort Karin to Interrogation and contact Inoichi."

"Right away, Hokage-sama."

With that, Tora and Karin disappeared. Naruto then turned to Hiruzen.

"They're not going to hurt Karin, are they, Jiji?"

The Hokage gave Naruto a reassuring smile. "Karin will be alright, Naruto-kun. Inoichi is the head of the Yamanaka Clan and I'm sure from your training sessions with Ino that you know what they're capable of."

Naruto couldn't argue with that. During his training under Asuma and Ino's under Mei, Ino told him about her clan techniques that allowed her to control an opponent's mind. It was at that moment that he would make sure never to tick off the blonde due to the fear that she might do something to his mind.

With that settled, Team Kakashi went to go find their room where they would be staying until the next part of the exams. With them gone, Kakashi and Mei appeared before Hiruzen.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to let that Karin girl stay in Konoha, Hokage-sama?" questioned Kakashi.

"That is why I'm having Inoichi take a look in her mind, Kakashi. In all honesty though, I feel that she has no connection to Orochimaru."

"If I may say something, Hokage-sama, I feel that there is something more to Karin. It felt as if she was hiding something if her body movements were anything to go by," said Mei.

"So you noticed as well," said Hiruzen. "We'll just have to wait for Inoichi's assessment before we can do anything."

"I hope it's nothing bad. I wouldn't want Naruto-kun to lose his new friend so soon after meeting her," said Mei, a sad look on her face as she thought how her nephew would take such news.

"I have to agree with you, Mei-san," replied Hiruzen with a tired sigh.

-:-

The rest of the days went by and soon it was time for the next part of the exam. Those who had passed the second part were Team Kakashi, Team Asuma, Team Kurenai, Team Gai, Team Raiga, Team Baki, Team Dosu, and Kabuto's team.

Apparently, though, there had to be a preliminary tournament before the genin could go on to the final part of the exams due to how there were more genin then expected. The genin were though given a choice if they wanted to drop out, to which both Kabuto and Kiri decided to drop out.

"What the hell, Kiri? Don't you want to become a Chunin?" questioned Suigetsu, surprised that his friend would drop out.

"I do, but you know I'm not much of a fighter yet what with all the time I put into learning about medicine to become a medic-nin. I just figured I could try to become a Chunin at a later date."

"Highly doubtful," muttered Sashimi. This earned her a glare from Suigetsu.

Suigetsu turned back to Kiri. "I guess that makes sense. Alright then, just make sure you cheer for us 'cause we're going to kick a lot of ass here!"

Kiri had to sweatdrop at that. While he didn't doubt his friend in the slightest, some of the other genin, mainly Sasuke, Kabuto's teammates, Kankuro, and the Oto shinobi, sent glares at Suigetsu. Others like Neji, Temari, and Gaara ignored him.

With that out of the way, Kiri took his leave, leaving the rest to fight in the prelims. A sickly looking jonin pointed everyone's attention to a large screen that was to determine who would be fighting first.

The first match turned out to be Sasuke versus Kabuto's teammate Yoroi Akado. Everyone else headed up to the balconies to watch the fight, though Kakashi warned him about his Curse Mark and if it acted up he'd personally stop the match. Not wanting that to happen, Sasuke was going to make sure to keep his mark in check. The fight was challenging for Sasuke at first, since Yoroi was able to absorb chakra through his hands, but Sasuke was able to make a comeback with a new taijutsu technique that he dubbed the **Shishi Rendan**. Rock Lee was shocked by it, as the technique was similar to his own. After Sasuke was declared the victor, Kakashi came down and took Sasuke away to deal with the mark.

The second match was Shino versus Zaku. Though Zaku could only use one arm, he declared he'd still win. Unfortunately this was not to be, even with his second arm, which was perfectly fine. Shino had his insects clog the tubes of Zaku's arms and made them explode, handing Shino the victory.

The third match was Kankuro versus Kabuto's other teammate Misumi Tsurugi. This match didn't last long as Kankuro used his puppet to crush every bone in Misumi's body after tricking Misumi into thinking he snapped his neck when in reality it was the puppet's neck instead.

The forth match came and it was Sakura versus Sashimi. The Kirigakure shinobi gave the pink-haired girl a taunting smirk as she jumped down to the arena. Sakura soon followed with only one thing on her mind

'_Will I even be able to win?'_

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**And there we have it. The end of the Forest of Death and the start of the prelims. I didn't really want to go into detail with Sasuke, Shino, and Kankuro's fights as I didn't want to make the chapter too long and their fights were never really that interesting to begin with. Next chapter though will have much more detailed fights, starting with Sakura and Sashimi's fight.**

**As you can see, I changed up Taka Karin's background from being an Orochimaru minion and being saved by Sasuke to an actual Kusa shinobi and being saved by Naruto (who she will only be friends with). I did this because for what I have planned for Karin, she cannot be an Orochimaru minion. Originally though I was going to have Karin only in this fic up to the end of the Invasion of Konoha Arc and then she'd go back to Kusagakure, but I thought up a way for her to be in the story.**

**Speaking of Taka Karin, she and Suigetsu will not be getting together in this fic. For one reason, they'll pretty much have the same relationship they do in canon, Suigetsu getting under her skin and Karin hitting him for being stupid. The other reason is that SasuSaku fans, to get Karin out of the way, created SuiKa and I will not help support them. With how they treat each other in canon, that's the only logical reason as to why it was created.**

**Anyway, enough with my rants. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and will stick around for the next chapter.**

**Translations:**

**Zankuha – Decapitating Airwaves**

**Konoha Senpu – Leaf Whirlwind**

**Omote Senpu – Front Lotus**

**Kyomeisen – Resonating Echo Drill**

**Nikudan Sensha – Human Bullet Tank**

**Baika no Jutsu – Multi-Size Technique**

**Suiro no Jutsu – Water Prison Technique**

**Fuuton: Kazaguruma no Jutsu – Wind Release: Pinwheel Technique (I unfortunately made this jutsu up)**

**Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu – Haze Clone Technique**

**Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Technique**

**Shishi Rendan – Lion Barrage**


	6. Prelims End and Training Begins

Sakura and Sashimi stood across from each other, waiting for Hayate to call for the start of their match. Sashimi drew out a pair of knives from her belt and tossed a vicious smirk Sakura's way.

"You should give up now while you have the chance, Pinky. You're too weak to match up with me," taunted Sashimi as she twirled one of her knives in her hand.

"I'm not weak and I'll prove it!" stated Sakura, narrowing her eyes at her opponent. Ever since the incident with the Oto shinobi, she vowed to herself to become stronger so she would no longer be useless to Naruto and Sasuke. If she were to back down now, it would only be admitting that she was indeed weak.

"Your funeral then," said the Kirigakure shinobi, licking the blade of her knife afterwards.

Up on the balcony, Naruto was worried for Sakura's safety. Ever since he met Sashimi, Naruto felt she would be a tough opponent for anyone. His thoughts were interrupted when Suigetsu walked up to him.

"Sakura should have bowed out," said the young Hozuki. "Sashimi is going to humiliate her."

"Don't bad mouth Sakura!" growled Naruto, sending a side glare to his friend.

"I'm not bad mouthing her, you baka! Look, Sakura isn't all that strong, you have to admit. Since Sashimi seems to know that, she's going to show it to everyone and humiliate her," explained Suigetsu, not really thrilled with the prospect.

"But why?"

"…Sashimi takes being a kunoichi very seriously and really doesn't like other kunoichi who don't."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Basically Sashimi doesn't have a life outside of being a ninja as she sees it as being a waste of time. She looks down upon kunoichi who actually have a social life, thinking them to be weaklings since they don't train twenty-four seven like she does."

"Sakura might not be the strongest on our team, but she's still strong! She held off those Oto shinobi."

"Doesn't matter to Sashimi. To her, a kunoichi should have been able to kill all three of those Oto shinobi without help."

"…No offense but your teammate is not right in the head," said Naruto with a grimace.

"Heh, you're not the first to notice," replied Suigetsu with a smirk. He then frowned as a thought hit him. _'I hope Sashimi doesn't go too far in this fight and plans to kill Sakura. If she does, I'll step in myself and stop her.'_

Back on the arena floor, Hayate gave the signal for the match to begin. Sakura quickly used a **Bunshin no Jutsu** just as Sashimi charged forward, knives ready to cut.

"You think you can fool me with that weak little jutsu!" yelled Sashimi, glaring at the four pink-haired girls.

She surprised Sakura when she appeared right in front of her. The pink-haired girl's surprise was soon replaced with pain as Sashimi kicked her in the ribs, sending her flying off to the side.

"Ah!" yelled Sakura as she landed on the floor into a rolled. When she stopped she held onto her side, trying to will the pain away.

"If you weren't such a weakling, you would have been able to avoid that. Makes me wonder if all of Konohagakure's kunoichi are this weak," said Sashimi with a sneer.

This earned her glares from Kurenai, Anko, Tenten, and Ino, while Hinata felt like one of Sashimi's knives dug into her heart as thoughts of her father and his words ran through her head.

"Oi, Sashimi! Do you mind shutting up? I really don't want to have to deal with a mob of angry Konoha kunoichi chasing after our team because you have to open your big mouth!" yelled Suigetsu, glaring at his knife wielding teammate.

"I'll say what I want, Suigetsu!" yelled back Sashimi, glaring right back. She then turned back to Sakura, who was in the middle of standing up. "Still think you can beat me? You make me sick."

"I won't lose to you," said Sakura through gritted teeth. She was still in a lot of pain from that kick.

"You don't have a choice.** Kyouran no Naifu**!"

Sashimi started wildly slash at Sakura, who couldn't get out of the way in time. The cherry blossom was soon covered in cut as Sashimi's attack ceased and she fell back to the floor, her wounds dripping with blood.

"Sakura!" cried out Ino and Naruto, worried and scared for their friend. Suigetsu gripped the railing, as he knew what was to come next.

"Poor little kunoichi. Couldn't lay a finger on me," taunted Sashimi as she walked over to Sakura's fallen form. She raised her knife just as she reached Sakura. "Maybe I should end this."

Hayate was about to stop this, but Suigetsu got to Sashimi first, pulling her away and holding onto her arms so she couldn't harm Sakura further. Sashimi glared hatefully at him.

"It's over, Sashimi. You won," spat Suigetsu, returning the glare. Behind him, Naruto and Ino came down to check on Sakura, along with some medical shinobi that were called in.

Sashimi scoffed at her teammate and headed back up to the balcony where she stayed away from everyone else. With her gone, Suigetsu walked over to the fallen Sakura.

"Is she going to be alright?" questioned Ino, worry in her voice.

"She should be. That technique Sashimi used isn't meant for killing. She uses it to make her opponents suffer before the gives the killing blow," explained Suigetsu as he watched the medics take Sakura away.

Naruto then created a Kage Bunshin and had it go with the medics. Getting confused looks, he explained. "The medics can tell the clone updates on Sakura and then I'll be able to get said update when the clone dispels."

"…Not a bad idea," said Suigetsu.

It was then Hayate coughed to get their attention. "As much as I hate to interrupt, but we need to get on with the prelims."

The screen flashed through names before it stopped, showing that the next fight was to be Suigetsu versus Ino. The two looked towards each other, fire in their eyes.

"Hope you have what it takes to win," taunted Suigetsu with a fanged smirk.

"I should be saying that to you," was Ino's retort.

As the to took their positions, Naruto headed backup to the balcony, giving Sashimi a glare on the way. As he made his way back to his spot, he noticed Kakashi was back.

"Kakashi-sensei! Did you hear about Sakura?" asked Naruto, looking at the scarecrow.

"Hai. Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure she'll be fine," replied Kakashi with an eye smile.

Assured by Kakashi's words, Naruto gave a fox-like grin and then turned back to the arena floor to watch Ino and Suigetsu's fight.

"I'll let you make the first move!" declared Suigetsu.

"Bad move!" said Ino as she performed a few hand signs. **Suiton: Suiben**!"

Water formed around Ino's hands, allowing her create whips that she used to lash out at Suigetsu. The young swordsman surprisingly didn't dodge and looked bored as the whips struck against his skin.

"Is this all you got?" questioned Suigetsu with an annoyed tone.

'_Why isn't my jutsu working? It worked when I practiced it on Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji,'_ thought Ino as she thought back to when she created the jutsu under Mei's tutelage. _'Let's try this then!'_

'_I got to admit, she's pretty good with Suiton jutsu. Now what is she doing?'_ thought Suigetsu as he watched her perform more hand signs.

"**Suiton: Kouka Suijin!"**

Ino's water whips retracted and coiled around her hands, forming water drills that started to spin very fast. She charged forward, ready to pierce Suigetsu if he didn't move. Once again surprising everyone, aside from his teammates, Suigetsu didn't move. In fact, Suigetsu actually caught Ino's attack with his bare hand.

"A little advice. When fighting a member of the Hozuki Clan, never use Suiton jutsu," stated Suigetsu.

"And why's that?" demanded Ino, glaring at her opponent.

Her glare turned into a look of surprise when Suigetsu flashed her a sharp-toothed grin and then fell into a puddle of water. The mass of water slithered up Ino's body, making her shudder in disgust, before Suigetsu's head reformed right next to hers.

"Our clan's special technique is known as the **Suika no Jutsu.** It allows us to liquefy our bodies into water," explained the Hozuki boy.

"So that's why you said Suiton jutsu are useless."

"Bingo, Blondie! We just absorb any Suiton jutsu used against us! You should give up now since your jutsu and any physical attacks won't work on me."

Gritting her teeth at the fact that he was right – and that she hasn't really been able to master her Doton jutsu yet – Ino had no choice but to surrender. With Suigetsu as the winner, he released Ino from his grip.

"Of all the luck, I had to fight against you of all people," muttered Ino.

"Don't take it too hard, Blondie. Trust me when I say that if I wasn't a Hozuki, you'd have probably kicked my ass with those Suiton jutsu of yours," replied Suigetsu as the two went back to their teams.

"You did great, Ino," stated Asuma with a smile as Ino approached him.

"Arigatou, Asuma-sensei," replied Ino with a smile of her own.

"Out of curiosity, Ino, where did you learn such jutsu? I know there was no way Asuma was able to teach you those," said Kakashi, earning a glare from the smoking monkey.

"Actually, I created those jutsu. Though I was able to learn how to use Suiton jutsu in the first place thanks to Mei-sensei," replied the Yamanaka.

"And it was troublesome all the while," muttered Shikamaru, thinking back to the practice session his teammate put him through. This earned him a glare from his blonde teammate.

"Mei taught you to use Suiton jutsu?" questioned Suigetsu, surprised by that. "Consider yourself lucky then. Mei is one of Kirigakure's strongest kunoichi."

As they talked, Sashimi grit her teeth at what she heard.

'_Mei-sama would teach this little weakling, but not me when I begged her to? This girl is lucky that she's not going to the finals or I would have had some fun with her.'_

The screen started to flash through names for the next fight, which turned out be Temari versus Tenten. The two kunoichi jumped down the floor, ready to fight.

-:-

Meanwhile at Interrogation, Inoichi had just finished looking into Karin's mind. He stepped out of the room, only to meet up with Mei and Hiruzen.

"Hokage-sama? Shouldn't you be looking over the prelims?" asked the Yamanaka head with confusion in his eyes.

"I left a clone in my place for the time being. What have you found, Inoichi?"

"Hm, well I have determined for a fact that Karin has absolutely nothing to do with Orochimaru, just as you thought."

"Good. I was hoping one as young as her would not be connected to my old student."

"Was there anything else, Inoichi-san?" asked Mei.

"…It seems that from seeing her memories, Karin had been abused physically in the past," stated Inoichi with a sour look.

Mei and Hiruzen's eyes widened at that. Mei was the one to speak though, anger and venom lacing her words. "Who would do such a thing?"

"It seems that she was abused by the headmaster of Kusagakure. The reason for this was that the headmaster did not like Karin's mother, who was a foreigner, and when Karin's mother died when Karin was young, the headmaster was the one to take her in as a way to keep her in line."

Mei saw red. She wanted nothing more than to go to Kusagakure and set the headmaster on fire so she could watch him burn.

"Calm yourself, Mei-san," said Hiruzen, though he was just as angry at hearing what Inoichi said. He turned back to the blond man. "You said Karin's mother was a foreigner?"

"Hai. From what I gather, Karin's mother arrived in Kusa when she was a child and grew up there. Karin was born in Kusa."

"I see. Arigatou, Inoichi. You may take your leave."

"Very well, Hokage-sama," replied Inoichi with a bow. With that the mind reader took his leave.

Mei in the meantime was in deep thought. _'Karin's mother was a foreigner? I wonder…'_ She then turned to Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama, would it be possible to have a DNA test done on Karin-chan?"

Hiruzen turned to Mei with a raised eyebrow, though he had a feeling on what Mei was getting at. "You think that Karin is an Uzumaki, am I right?"

With a nod, Mei replied. "Hai. Inoichi said that Karin's mother was a foreigner who arrived in Kusa as a child. Karin is roughly the same age as Naruto, so it could stand to reason that Karin's mother might have been once a member of the Uzumaki Clan and fled somewhere else when Uzushiogakure was destroyed."

"Do you believe that Karin's mother was a sister of yours?"

"That is what I find strange, to tell you the truth. Kushina was my only sister and the only other sibling I had was a brother," said Mei. She then grimaced a bit. "Then again, I do remember as a child that there were rumors that our father liked to sleep around behind our mother's back."

Hiruzen actually sweatdropped at that. _'As bad as it is to say, it might be a good thing that Naruto's grandfather on his mother's side is dead. He doesn't need to be exposed to such behavior.'_

"So can we perform the test?"

"…Very well. Regardless of what the test say, I'm going to guess that you don't want Karin to return to Kusagakure?"

"Correct. She doesn't deserve that sort of life."

Nodding in agreement, Hiruzen planned for one of his medical shinobi to draw the blood needed after the prelims were done.

-:-

"How troublesome," said Shikamaru with a sigh as he watched his opponent get carried off by the medical shinobi.

Earlier, Temari had defeated Tenten easily with her Fuuton jutsu, not receiving a scratch from the weapon using kunoichi. After that, Shikamaru had to fight Kin of Team Dosu. This of course was troublesome for the lazy boy, as he really didn't want to fight against a girl. He was able to win his match with the help of his shadow techniques. With another sigh, Shikamaru headed back up to the balcony.

"Nice match, Shikamaru," said Naruto as the Nara walked by.

"It was still troublesome."

"Is everything troublesome with this guy?" asked Suigetsu.

"Unfortunately," replied Ino, her eye twitching in annoyance due to her teammate's lazy attitude.

Any other words weren't said as the screen flashed through more names. It stopped to show that Naruto was going to fight Kiba in the next match. The two boys flashed each other fanged grins before they jumped down to the arena floor.

"This will be fun," said the young Hozuki, giving off his own sharp-toothed grin.

'_Good luck, Naruto-kun,_' thought Hinata as she watched Naruto and Kiba take their positions.

Down with the two boys, they stared each other down, almost as if they were going to fight to see who would become the alpha.

"Did you get any stronger since the academy, Naruto? You were the dead last after all," taunted Kiba with a smirk.

"I don't know why you're smirking, Kiba. Your grades were just as bad as mine!" exclaimed Naruto, making Kiba frown.

"Sh-Shut up!" yelled Kiba.

"Arf!" added in Akamaru, defending his partner.

"Let's just get on with this!" exclaimed Kiba as Hayate signaled for the match to begin.

Kiba and Akamaru ran forward towards Naruto, flanking him from both sides. At the last moment, the orange clad boy jumped back, making both the dog shinobi and the puppy crash into each other.

"That looked like it hurt," stated Naruto, trying to hold his laughter. This of course earned him a glare from Kiba.

"You're going to pay for that! **Shikyaku no Jutsu!**"

With that said, Kiba started to become more feral looking. That wasn't all as Akamaru then used a technique known as **Juujin Bunshin **to become an exact copy of the feral Kiba.

'_This can't be good,'_ thought Naruto.

With the help of their jutsu, Kiba and Akamaru were too fast for Naruto and were able to deal some damage.

"What's the matter, Naruto? Not so cocky now, are you?" said the two feral dogs, taunting the fox boy.

"I'm still going to win this!" declared Naruto as he brought out not one, but two fuma shurikens.

Kiba smirked at this. "You think you can hit us with those? We're too fast for you!"

"Bring it on!" exclaimed Naruto, a look of determination in his eyes.

Now that he was ready, Naruto was able to doge or block some of the Inuzuka's attacks. Of course some still got through and slashed at the young Uzumaki. Having enough of this, Naruto started to spin one of his fuma shuriken and created a gust of wind, which he pointed towards the ground and kicked up a lot of dust.

"Oi!" yelled out Kiba as the dust caused him and Akamaru to lose their sense of smell and start a coughing fit.

When the dust cleared, everyone was surprised to see three Kibas standing on the arena floor.

"What the hell?" exclaimed one of the Inuzuka with a glare. "What's the big idea taking my image?"

"How do we know you're not the imposter?" said one of the other Inuzuka returning the glare.

Kiba let out a growl and leapt forward, slamming his body into one of the Inuzuka in front of him. When his target skidded across the floor and came to a stop, a puff of smoke was produced.

"Ha! Thought you could outsmart me, Naruto!" declared Kiba with a fanged grin. Kiba then stiffened when Naruto's voice sounded from behind him.

"I believe I just did."

Kiba turned around to see a grinning Naruto. Turning back to see who he hit, his anger grew when he saw that it was Akamaru.

"You're going to pay for that!" exclaimed Kiba. **"Tsuuga!"**

Naruto quickly took out his fuma shuriken and started to spin one of them, creating a gust of wind that collided into Kiba.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Koudou no Jutsu!"**

The two spiraling forces clashed for supremacy, but Naruto's jutsu was far greater than Kiba's, making the young Inuzuka stop his technique and skid backwards, putting him off balance. This gave Naruto the opportunity to finish this fight by kicking Kiba into the air with four of his Kage Bunshin.

"**U-ZU-MA-KI!"**

Once Kiba was in the air after the four kicks, the real Naruto finished it off with a rotating heel drop, slamming Kiba back to the ground with a crash.

"**Naruto Rendan!"**

Once Hayate was able to see that Kiba could no longer fight, he declared Naruto the winner.

'_Impressive,'_ thought Kurenai as she watched Naruto celebrate his victory and the medics take Kiba away. _'Maybe there's more to Naruto than most people thought.'_

As Naruto bounded up the stairs and headed back to where Kakashi was, he was stopped by the soft and quiet voice of Hinata.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"Huh? Oh, hi Hinata! What's up?" questioned the blond.

"Ano, th-this is for y-you," said the little Hyuga, holding out a small container. This gesture surprised Naruto and Kurenai.

"What is it?" asked Naruto as he looked at the object.

"It's medicine, Naruto," answered Kurenai with a small smile. "I believe Hinata wants you to have it so you can heal your wounds."

"Really? Thanks, Hinata!" exclaimed Naruto as he took the container from the shy girl and gave her a one-armed hug. This of course made Hinata blush bright red.

"Y-You're w-welcome, N-Naruto-kun!" stuttered Hinata, trying very hard not to faint. Kurenai couldn't help but think the two of them looked really cute together.

Naruto opened the container and used his finger to scoop up some of the ointment and smear it on his wounds. As Naruto did this, the board flashed through names for the next match. It became silent when the names that appeared were Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji. It was time for a family rivalry to either end or become even greater.

-:-

Naruto clenched his fists as he waited for the doctor's word on Hinata. When it was announced that Hinata would be fighting her cousin, she was scared and Neji's words didn't help. Thanks to Naruto's words of encouragement though, Hinata gained the strength to fight back. Unfortunately it was not enough and Neji still came out on top, by not only damaging Hinata's heart, but also trying to kill her. Luckily, Gai, Kakashi, and Kurenai stopped Neji before he could land a killing blow.

Naruto wanted to kick Neji's ass then and there, but was stopped by Lee and Suigetsu, saying that he would be disqualified if he did and that there was the chance he could fight Neji in the finals. Calming down a bit, Naruto vowed on Hinata's blood that he would beat Neji for what he did to Hinata. After declared this, the blond boy ran after the medics so he could find out if Hinata will be all right.

"Naruto, this isn't your fault," said Kurenai, who had followed after him.

"But I'm the one who told Hinata to keep fighting! If I had kept quiet…she wouldn't be in this mess!" shouted Naruto, punching the wall in anger.

"Naruto, I believe you keeping quiet would have done more harm than good for Hinata."

Naruto turned to the woman with a confused and angry look. "What could be worse than this?"

"As I'm sure you've seen, Hinata is very shy and unfortunately because of that, she sees herself as weak and will give up easily. You're words gave her the confidence boost she needed."

"But…"

"I also believe Hinata would not blame you either, Naruto," replied Kurenai with a soft smile.

"Listen to Kurenai, Naruto. She knows her student better than anyone," spoke a voice.

Naruto and Kurenai looked down the hall to see Kakashi coming their way.

"Kakashi. I'm guessing the matches are over?" questioned Kurenai.

Kakashi nodded and went on to explain the final matches. Naruto and Kurenai were shocked by how vicious Gaara was and the punishment Lee went through.

"So what are the final matches?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi gave the boy an eye smile. "Well first off, be glad you have friends like Suigetsu who picked out your number for you since you were not there."

"Hinata's health is more important, Kakashi-sensei!"

The scarecrow gave his student another eye smile. "Good to hear that, Naruto. Anyway, the matches in the finals are as followed: You versus Neji, Shino versus Kankuro, Shikamaru versus Temari, Sasuke versus Sashimi, and lastly Suigetsu versus Gaara."

Naruto couldn't help the feral grin that came upon his face. "So I really do get to kick Neji's ass? I'll make sure he regrets what he did!"

"Calm yourself, Naruto-kun. Anger can make you lose focus," spoke a feminine voice.

"Hi, Mei-chan!" greeted Naruto with a grin as he turned to the busty redhead.

The kunoichi let out a giggle. "Hello, Naruto-kun. Congratulations on making it to the finals."

"Thanks! I'm going to kick so much ass too!" declared Naruto. He then turned to Kakashi. "Ne, Kakashi-sensei! Will help me train? Please?"

"Gomen, Naruto, but I'm going to have to train Sasuke for the finals," replied the scarecrow.

"Oh…okay then."

Kakashi felt guilty when he saw the downtrodden look the blond had on his face. He also felt like running for the hills when he more or less felt the disapproving stares he was getting from Mei and Kurenai. He had to make this right somehow.

"Now Naruto, of the two of you, Sasuke actually needs a lot more help," stated Kakashi.

"Really?" wondered Naruto, a look of confusion on his face. As much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke was one of the best genin from his class.

"That he does. In fact, of my students, you are actually the best one, which is why I have found someone who could train you better than I could."

Now Naruto was starting to get excited. "Who is it? Who is it?"

"Do you happen to know of a jonin by the name of Ebisu?"

And that was when Naruto's excitement died. He then started to rant. "Why do I have to be trained by the closet pervert? He's really weak!"

The three adults each raised an eyebrow at what Naruto said. Kurenai was the one to speak up. "…Closet pervert?"

"Hai! He acts all high and mighty, but I proved that he's nothing but a huge pervert when I took him out easily with my **Harem no Jutsu!**"

Mei's eyebrow started to twitch. "…**Harem no Jutsu**?"

The young blond nodded with a grin. "It's one of my own personal techniques. I created by combing **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** with another of my own creations called **Oiroke no Jutsu!**"

Kakashi and Kurenai could feel the waves of killing intent coming off of Mei. This could possibly not end well.

"Naruto," started Mei in a deadly calm voice. "Go wait outside. I'll be the one training you for the finals."

Naruto's eyes lit up at hearing that. "Yatta! Arigatou, Mei-chan! Ne, Kurenai-sensei, when Hinata wakes up, tell her I hope she gets better soon!"

With that, the orange clad shinobi ran out of the building. Once he was gone, Mei turned to Kakashi with a very deadly glare, making the seasoned shinobi actually flinch. While he wasn't a mind reader like the Yamanaka, the scarecrow knew what Mei was thinking.

"I swear I have no idea where or how he learned those jutsu."

Kakashi started to sweat bullets when the angry redhead grabbed him by the vest and pulled him close.

"And I swear that if I find out that you or anyone else has been trying to corrupt my little Naruto-kun, hell will be paid. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal!"

"Good," said Mei with a nod of satisfaction. She then released Kakashi, turned, and then stalked off to meet with Naruto, leaving behind a terrified Kakashi and a stunned Kurenai.

'_Dear Kami! She truly is Kushina's sister!'_ thought Kakashi with a shudder.

"…What just happened?" questioned Kurenai, looking to Kakashi for answers. "What did she mean by "her little Naruto-kun"? She's not…"

"No! Their relationship is nothing like that, so get rid of all such thoughts," said Kakashi as his nerves calmed.

"Then what exactly is going on between them?" demanded the genjutsu mistress, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms.

Letting out a tired sigh, Kakashi told Kurenai about what has been going on, after he made sure no one was listening in on them. When he was finished, Kurenai had a stunned look on her face.

"And there you have it," said Kakashi.

"I can't believe that Kushina-sama had a sister or that Naruto had any family left out there," said Kurenai.

"I was just as surprised when I found out twelve years ago. Kurenai, you need to keep this a secret. If this gets out, it could cause trouble."

The red-eyed kunoichi nodded. "Right. I just hope Naruto finds out soon. He really does deserve to know."

Kakashi could only nod in agreement.

-:-

With Naruto and Mei, the two were walking through the village towards the training grounds.

"Ne, Mei-chan? What kind of training will we be doing?"

"Well, I suppose I could teach you a new jutsu or two, but I will need to know how well your chakra control has grown. How well have you progressed with the water walking exercise?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Ano, I haven't really started on that exercise."

The busty redhead gave her nephew a blank look. "…Nani? What has Kakashi been teaching you?"

"The last thing Kakashi-sensei really taught us was the tree climbing exercise back in Nami no Kuni."

The urge to kill was rising in Mei. "I had hoped that Kakashi would have at least taught you that exercise."

"He's always with Sasuke-teme though."

"I know," replied Mei with a growl. "I suppose we should work on that then."

Mei led Naruto to the onsen district where she would begin the lesson.

"So what do I need to do, Mei-chan?"

"This exercise is similar to the tree climbing exercise, except that you will need to distribute your chakra differently since you be walking on a liquid instead of a solid," explained Mei. "You will need to emit a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of your feet and use the repellent force to walk across the water's surface."

"That doesn't sound too hard," stated Naruto as he focused his chakra. He then stepped onto the water's surface only to fall through. It didn't take long for Naruto to resurface with a yell since the water was very hot.

"Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" questioned Mei, worried that Naruto wasn't ready for this exercise.

"Why did we come here to do the exercise?" demanded the now red-skinned Naruto as he twitched in pain.

"The hot waters are more or less supposed to help teach someone this exercise faster so they don't get burned," explained Mei. "Do you wish to continue?"

"I'm not going to give up! I'll learn this exercise even if it takes me all night!" declared Naruto as he stood up.

Before Naruto could continue with the exercise, the two heard the sound of someone giggling nearby. Looking over to where it was coming from, the two saw a man with long, spiky, white hair peeping through a hole in the onsen wall. Naruto and Mei narrowed their eyes at the perverted old man. Wanting to put an end to this, Mei marched over to where the old man was.

"Is there a reason you are peeping on the unsuspecting women within that onsen?" demanded the busty redhead as she glare at man.

The old man stiffened at the tone, as it reminded him very much of a certain busty blonde he knows and loves. That means he was most likely going to be hurt very badly by a very angry woman in a few seconds. Turning around to see who caught him, his eyes widened when he saw Mei and Naruto standing behind him.

'_It just had to be Kushina's sister, didn't it? At least I don't have to go looking for the gaki later,'_ thought Jiraiya. He then gave off a smile in hopes that he could weasel out of any forth-coming pain. "I was not peeping, I was just doing some research."

The two Uzumaki gave the pervert blank looks. It was Naruto that spoke up. "What the hell kind of research requires peeping on naked women?"

Jiraiya could only let out a chuckle. "Why for my next book of course!"

Jiraiya then pulled out a familiar orange book that made Naruto's eyes widen and Mei's eyes narrow.

"That book…" started Naruto.

Jiraiya smirked. _'I knew the younger generation had taste in literature.'_

"That's that same nasty book Kakashi-sensei reads all the time!" yelled Naruto, glaring at the man before him. "You're nothing more then a porn writing pervert who likes peeping on women!"

Naruto's yelling was so loud that the women inside the onsen heard him and started screaming that they were violated and ran out of the onsen, much to Jiraiya's dismay and Mei's amusement.

"My research!" cried Jiraiya. He then turned to the young blond with a glare. "Do you have any idea what you just did? Do you even know who I am?"

"I just saved those women and I don't care who you are!"

The Gama Sennin felt his eye twitch at the disrespect he was being shown. He knew once he introduced himself, the gaki before him will be pleading for forgiveness.

With a puff of smoke, Jiraiya summoned and stood atop of a large toad and started to perform a weird kabuki-like dance.

"I am the one most men fear! I am the one all women swoon over! Former student of the Sandaime Hokage and one of the Legendary Sanin, I am the Great Gama Sennin Jiraiya!" proclaimed Jiraiya as he and the toad finished their kabuki dance.

All was silent as Naruto and Mei gave Jiraiya blank looks. Naruto once again broke the silence. "You're still a nasty pervert!"

Mei let out a few laughs at Jiraiya's expense as the pervert looked very annoyed.

"Kids these days know nothing about respect. And I'm not a pervert!"

"Really now?' questioned Naruto, not really believing that lie.

"That's right, I'm a super pervert!" exclaimed Jiraiya with a big perverted grin.

"…"

Mei then spoke up. "Naruto-kun, let us go and find somewhere else for your training. Staying here will do us no good."

"Right."

Not wanting to lose sight of Naruto, Jiraiya had to think fast if he was the one who was going to train the boy.

"Hold on! How 'bout I train you?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, while Mei narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"You want to teach me?" questioned Naruto.

"That I do! I can help with your chakra control, which you seem to really need help in," said Jiraiya, earning a pout from the fox boy. "Plus, once you've gain good chakra control, I can teach you how to summon toads."

The hermit demonstrated this by summoning a small toad before the two Uzumaki. Naruto's eye lit up at this, but then dulled when he realized something.

"But Mei-chan already said she'd train me for the finals. I don't want to seem like a waste of time to her by going to someone else to train with."

Mei could only smile at her nephew's words and how he was worried about making her sad. She couldn't help by find him to be so cute.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto-kun. While I do wish to continue training you, Jiraiya-sama might be able to help you more than I could."

"There you go, gaki!"

"Of course if at any point he tries to corrupt you with his perverted ways, I will hunt him down and use a Katon jutsu to burn off his favorite organ," said Mei with a growl as she gave a side glare towards the now frightened Jiraiya.

"I swear, I'll make sure Naruto doesn't get corrupted!" declared Jiraiya as he was subconsciously crossing his legs. He did not want to mess with a woman who had that look in her eyes. He knew that look well. That was the same look Tsunade always gave him when he tried to teach Minato the ways of the pervert. Those times never ended well for him.

"You better…"

With those last words, Mei took her leave, leaving Naruto behind with Jiraiya. If only she knew what Jiraiya had in store for the blond.

-:-

Later that night, Jiraiya was standing on a roof that overlooked Naruto's hospital room. Naruto was in the hospital due to over exhaustion from summoning the boss toad Gamabunta. Jiraiya's attention was then diverted when the sound of heels clicking was coming towards him. Turning around, he saw a livid looking Mei.

"What did you do to Naruto-kun?" she demanded, looking ready to kill.

"Just calm down. He just overexerted himself today, especially with what he had to do."

Jiraiya went on to explain the day's events. Mei was surprised that Naruto had so much strength in him to summon Gamabunta, who was considered one of the more powerful summoning creatures.

"So Naruto-kun completed the training?"

"For today. He still has the rest of the month. Don't worry though, no harm will come to your nephew."

Mei stiffened at that. She then got on guard and looked ready to fight if she needed to. "How did you know?"

The perverted hermit could only laugh. "I know everything. Look, you don't have anything to worry about. The gaki is in good hands."

"How can I trust you?" questioned Mei, still not letting up.

"I was Minato's sensei and I would never put his son in harms way," replied Jiraiya. Granted he did just earlier throw the brat down a trench, but she didn't need to know about that.

"…Very well then. Please make sure Naruto-kun gets stronger."

"I will. You on the other hand need to make sure that little redheaded niece of yours gets stronger as well," said Jiraiya.

Mei's eyes widened at that. She just found out earlier that Karin was indeed an Uzumaki. She was about to ask how he knew, but then remembered what he said about knowing everything. Instead she asked, "Should we tell Naruto-kun and Karin-chan about their relations?"

"…If you do, you will have to reveal who you are to them. Are you willing to risk their lives should your Mizukage find out?"

Mei clenched her fists at that. She needed to get rid of the Mizukage and the Daimyo as soon as possible.

"I suppose that it is best to continue keeping it a secret."

"Don't worry. I'm sure when you do tell them if you explain to them why you had to keep it a secret, they'll understand."

"…I hope so," said Mei, still having doubts. She really hoped that her niece and nephew would still want her in their lives.

As if reading her mind, Jiraiya spoke up. "They won't turn their backs on you. Naruto is a lot like his father when it comes to people and from what I hear about Karin, she would be happy to live with you than that headmaster she had to live with. Now go and get some sleep. Tomorrow is the start of many long days of training for those two."

With a smile, Mei bid Jiraiya a thank you and a goodnight, grateful for his words. Once she left, Jiraiya looked towards the night sky with a smile as memories of Minato and Kushina went through his mind. He would make sure he wouldn't lose more of his family.

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**I know it has been a while, but writer's block and deadlines kept me from this. Luckily, we're getting towards the end of the Chunin Exam and Invasion of Konoha Arcs.**

**Okay then. As you can see, the rest of the prelims went a little different. Sashimi beat Sakura, Suigetsu beat Ino, and Naruto beat Kiba much differently. I also decided not to show Shikamaru's, Hinata's, and the last two matches since there would be no difference.**

**When I had started this story, Karin was not going to have a whole lot to do in this. With the revelation of her being an Uzumaki though, and the fact that this fic is called Uzumaki Reunion, I decided to give her a much bigger part. Next chapter will have her finding out that she is an Uzumaki from Mei.**

**Got to feel somewhat sorry for Kakashi and Jiraiya. They're already on Mei's shit list it seems, Jiraiya more so than Kakashi. Just goes to show, never get on the bad side of a mother cat.**

**EDIT: I have been informed that the Water Whip and Water Drill are actual jutsu from the series. The Water Whip, known as Suiben, is used by Mei in one of the games, while the Water Drill, actually called Kouka Suijin, is used by Tobirama in another game. Thank you to the anonymous reviewer who gave me this information.**

**Translations:**

**Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique**

**Kyouran no Naifu – Knife Frenzy (I unfortunately made this up)**

**Suiton: Suiben – Water Release: Water Whip**

**Suiton: Kouka Suijin – Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade**

**Suika no Jutsu – Hydrification Technique**

**Shikyaku no Jutsu – Four Legs Technique**

**Juujin Bunshin – Beast Human Clone**

**Tsuuga – Passing Fang**

**Fuuton: Kaze Koudou no Jutsu – Wind Release: Wind Tunnel Technique (Another of my own creations)**

**Uzumaki Naruto Rendan – Uzumaki Naruto Combo**

**Harem no Jutsu – Harem Technique**

**Oiroke no Jutsu – Sexy Technique**


	7. Fox Versus Bird - Water Versus Sand

**Sorry for the wait. Also, I have a poll up on my profile, which is for a future _Naruto_ fic I have an idea for. So cast your votes to determine the outcome.**

**-:-**

Mei paced around the room, seething in anger. One might ask why she was angry if they were to walk in upon this scene. Well like with most women in Konoha, her anger comes from one thing. Jiraiya.

The busty redhead had recently found out about Jiraiya tossing Naruto down a trench during their first training session. Like a mother cat wanting to protect her kitten, Mei saw red and hunted down the perverted sage. Jiraiya, not wanting to die, had to take Naruto somewhere where Mei couldn't reach them so he could continue with Naruto's training. This meant he had to take Naruto to a place he hadn't planned on going until Naruto was much older. Mount Myoboku.

This just made Mei angrier as it kept her from making sure Naruto was all right.

"Obachan, I'm sure Naruto will be okay. Sarutobi-jiji seems to trust Jiraiya, so we should too!"

Mei turned to the younger redhead. "I know, Karin, but I still can't help but worry about Naruto-kun."

Karin gave Mei a smile, which was returned by the elder redhead. Mei remembered when it was revealed to Karin about her heritage.

**(Flashback)**

_Mei had been called into Hiruzen's office. Karin's blood test had been completed and he wanted to give Mei the results._

"_What does it say, Hokage-sama?" asked Mei._

_The old monkey gave her a smile as he handed her the results. "I figured it'd be best if you read it first."_

_Snatching the paper out of his hand, Mei scanned the sheet. Finding her answer, her eyes widened and she let out a squeal of joy._

"_I take it that it's good news?" asked Hiruzen with a laugh._

"_Hai! Karin's at the hospital, right?"_

"_That she is…"_

_Before Hiruzen could finish, Mei had left quickly to go and see the young redhead. The old monkey could only shake his head in amusement._

_-:-_

_At the hospital, Mei made her way towards Karin's room. Upon entering, she found the young girl sitting on the bed with a pout._

"_Is something wrong, Karin-chan?" asked Mei, making the girl jump in surprise._

"_Oh! Mei-san, I didn't see you there," said Karin. She then went back to pouting when she remembered Mei's question. "Nothing's wrong. I just want to get out of here and the doctors won't let me."_

_Mei let out a few giggles. "Well I have some good news for you. I'm here to sign you out."_

_Karin's eyes widened at that. "Really?!"_

"_Really. Now go get dressed so we can get out of here."_

_Not needing to be told twice, Karin hurried off to the bathroom with her clothes. Once she was done getting dressed, she and Mei headed down to the font desk, signed out, and headed into the village. Walking around and making small talk, the two redheads soon came to one of Konoha's hotels._

"_Mei-san, why are we here?" asked Karin._

"_This is where I'm staying during my time here in Konoha, Karin-chan. I've brought you here because I need to talk to you about something and I hope to do so away from prying ears."_

_Nodding at that, Karin followed Mei inside the building and up to her room. Once inside, the two sat across from each other at the table._

"_What did you want to talk to me about, Mei-san?"_

_Mei pulled out the test results. "Do you know what this is?" Seeing Karin shake her head no, Mei continued. "These are the results of a blood test I had done on you."_

"_Nani? Why would you have my blood tested?"_

"_I had a hunch on something and it turned out that my hunch was right," replied Mei with a smile. She pushed the paper towards the young girl. "Read it."_

_Though hesitant to do so, Karin picked up the paper and read it. As she read it, her red eyes widened at what she saw._

"_Uzumaki?"_

"_That's right."_

"_I'm an Uzumaki? But how were you able to find that out?"_

"_I had them test your blood against my own," explained Mei. She continued her explanation when she saw Karin's confused look. "You see, I am also part of the Uzumaki Clan. Long ago our home village, Uzushiogakure, was destroyed and our clan was scattered. Being part of the clan, your mother must have ended up in Kusagakure as a child during that period."_

_At the mention of her mother, tears came to Karin's eyes. Wiping the tears away, she looked towards Mei with a little bit of hope. "You said you were also part of the Uzumaki Clan. Does this mean that we are family?"_

_Mei gave the girl a soft smile. "Hai. Your mother was most likely a sister of mine, which makes you my niece."_

_The next thing Mei knew was that Karin launched herself into the older woman, hugging her as if her life depended on it. Mei could feel a damp spot on her shoulder._

"_I h-have family!" cried the little redhead._

_The elder redhead rubbed Karin's back, trying to soothe her. "Shh, it's okay, Karin-chan. I'm here for you and I will always be there for you."_

"_I don't want to go back to Kusagakure," stated Karin with a whimper._

"_And you won't. You'll be living with me from now on."_

_It was then that Karin remembered something. "What about Naruto? He's an Uzumaki, right? He'll be living with us too, won't he?"_

_Mei stiffened at that. "He can't, Karin-chan."_

"_Why not?"_

_Letting out a sigh, Mei started to explain. "For one thing, his home is here in Konohagakure and it will always be his home. Secondly, I want to keep this a secret from him for now."_

_Karin's eyes widened at that. "A secret? But why?"_

_Letting out another sigh, Mei explained further. "Believe me, I want nothing more than to tell Naruto. Unfortunately, there are people back in Kirigakure who would use him against me if they knew he was my nephew. Those same people might use you against me as well, Karin-chan, so I want to keep our relationship a secret as well. I only told you because I do not want you going back to Kusa."_

_Karin took in what Mei told her. She wondered whom Mei was talking about, but didn't really question it. She figured the fewer questions asked the better._

"_Don't worry, Obachan. I'll keep this a secret," said Karin._

_With a smile, Mei brought Karin into hug. Both were happy that they found each other. Mei only had one thought that crawled from the back of her mind._

'I will defeat you Yagura. To protect my family, I will defeat you.'

**(Flashback End)**

Returning to the present, Mei let out a sigh. She turned to Karin with a smile.

"Let's go, Karin-chan. We should get some training in. Can't let Naruto-kun be the only one getting stronger, can we?"

With a nod, Karin followed her aunt out of the room and to the training field.

-:-

The rest of the month went by and the day of the finals had arrived. The arena where the finals were to be held was packed with so many people wanting to watch the fights. The competitors were all down on the field wanting for the battles to start…except that Naruto and Sasuke were missing.

"Where are Sasuke-kun and Naruto?" questioned Sakura, looking around for her teammates.

"Why are you asking us, Forehead? They're your teammates, so you should know where they are," said Ino. She was sitting on Sakura's left next to Choji, who was currently stuffing his face with potato chips.

"Keep quiet, Ino Pig! Besides, you've been training with Naruto recently so shouldn't you know where he is?"

"From what I've heard, Naruto-san has been doing some heavy duty training. Maybe he's doing some last minute training?" suggested Kiri, who was sitting on Sakura's right.

"Wherever he is, Naruto needs to get here quick. His match is about to start!" said Karin, who was sitting behind Choji.

"Don't worry, Karin-chan! I wouldn't be late like Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed the familiar voice.

The five turned to the voice, but were surprised by what they saw. It was Naruto, but what was surprising was the fact that he was carrying a blushing Hinata in his arms.

"Naruto, why are you carrying Hinata?" questioned Ino, holding back a squeal as she thought the sight looked so cute.

Naruto set Hinata down, much to her disappointment. He then gave his signature grin. "I was on my way to the stadium when I ran into Hinata-chan. I figured since we were going to the same place we'd go together."

"A-Arigatou, N-Naruto-kun," stuttered the shy little Hyuga.

"No problem, Hinata-chan!"

With that, Naruto ran down the stairs, faster than the others remember him being, and made his way to the arena floor. Karin moved over a seat for Hinata. Once Hinata was seated, Ino decided to start asking questions.

"So, Hinata…were you and Naruto on a date? Is that why he was late?" asked the blonde with a grin.

"No!" squeaked Hinata, her face bright red. "N-Naruto-kun was t-telling the truth when he s-said we j-just ran into each other at the training grounds."

Of course she wasn't going to mention the conversation they had at training grounds, where Naruto was feeling a little nervous about fighting Neji. She was happy that she was able to make him feel better. Of course that conversation was going to be her and Naruto-kun's secret.

Down on the arena floor, Naruto made his way over to the others.

"About time you got here! The proctor was about to disqualify you!" said Suigetsu, crossing his arms.

"You can really be troublesome at times, Naruto," said Shikamaru with a sigh.

"Whatever. Anyway, time to kick some ass!" exclaimed the blond.

The competitors left, leaving Naruto, Neji, and the proctor.

"You will lose as it is your destiny," said Neji with a smirk.

"Not likely! Unlike you, I have a real reason to win!" yelled Naruto, glaring at the older boy. Neji glared right back.

"Are you two ready?" asked the proctor, Shiranui Genma, as he chewed on a senbon like a toothpick. Seeing the two genin nod, he smirked. "Then the match between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji will begin!"

As soon as the match began, Naruto disappeared, surprising everyone. But he then suddenly reappeared, slamming his leg into Neji's side with a mighty kick.

"Gah!" yelped Neji as he was sent back. When he stopped he looked up and saw Naruto looking back at him with a grin. "How did a dead last like you get so fast?"

"I took my month long training seriously. I told you I was going to kick your ass," replied Naruto.

Back up in the stands, Sakura and the others were shocked by Naruto's speed and strength.

"What kind of training did Naruto go through?" asked Sakura to no one in particular.

"Whatever it was, he's definitely gotten stronger," answered Choji.

Back with the match, Neji stood up and got into his Juken Style. "It seems I made the mistake of underestimating you. I will not make that same mistake again."

"What's that? You're actually admitting you made a mistake? I didn't think a prodigy like you would ever admit to that," taunted Naruto. He received a fierce glare from the Hyuga. Naruto then made the hand sign for his signature jutsu. "Let's so this! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

Multiple blonds appeared out of nowhere, further surprising everyone. Neji, not knowing that these were real clones, activated his Byakugan to find the real Naruto. He was shocked to find that all of the clones had chakra networks.

'_What is this?! How could a known dead last be able to use such a technique?!'_

"What's the matter, Neji? Can't find the real me?" asked the blonds in one voice, so as not to reveal the real Naruto's position.

The Hyuga prodigy narrowed his active Byakugan at the mass of orange. He could tell that Naruto was trying to goad him into attacking, but being as intelligent as he was, Neji was not going to fall for it.

"You will not win this, Uzumaki!"

"Keep telling yourself that and it might come true," taunted Naruto. He then thought, _'Looks like I'll need to attack first. At least this way I can figure out a way to counter anything he throws at me…at least that's what Ero-sennin said to do.'_

With that thought, Naruto had his Kage Bunshin charge forward to overpower Neji. The Hyuga on the other hand just smirked.

"**Hakkesho Kaiten!"**

With that, Neji started to spin in place, expelling chakra as he did so. This created a dome that surrounded him, not only protecting him but also sending Naruto's clones back and dispelling them. Of the things he was expecting, Naruto was not expecting that.

"What just happened?!"

Neji smirked at Naruto's outburst. "You have just witnessed the ultimate defense of the Hyuga Clan. As I said earlier, it is your destiny to lose."

"Enough with that destiny crap! If you really think you can beat me, then prove it!" exclaimed Naruto, glaring at Neji.

"You will regret those words."

Wanting to get this match on, Naruto created more clones and had them go after Neji. This of course had the same effect as last time with Neji expelling them with his ultimate defense.

'_I think I've figured out a way to counter that technique!'_ thought Naruto.

He never got a chance to act on this though as Neji closed in on him.

"You are in my range. **Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!**"

The young Uzumaki didn't have a chance to move as Neji began his assault. First came two strikes, and then another two strikes, followed by four strikes, then eight strikes, then sixteen strikes, lastly came thirty-two strikes, marking a grand total of sixty-four strikes upon Naruto. With the final strike, Naruto fell back motionless.

Back up in the stands, the others were really worried.

"N-Naruto-kun," whimpered Hinata, scared for his health. She knew first hand how deadly that technique was.

"This is not good," said Kiri.

"Come on, Naruto! Get up!" yelled out Karin.

"It's over," stated Neji, turning his back on the fallen blond.

"I-It's not over until I win…"

Neji's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. Turning back around, he was shocked to see Naruto gradually stand up.

"How are you able to stand?!" demanded Neji. No one has ever been able to do such a thing after being hit by the **Hakke Rokujuyon Sho**.

Naruto just gave off a grin. "I told you. I have a reason to win!"

"Hn. It doesn't matter what your reason is. You won't be doing anything with your chakra points closed like they are. I am still the winner as it is my destiny."

Naruto knew Neji was right. Though he could stand up, Naruto still felt numb. How was he going to deal with this?

"**Focus your chakra."**

'_Nani?'_

"**Focus your chakra, Kit. With as much chakra as you have, if you pump it through your body it should reverse what that Hyuga did."**

Naruto mentally nodded his thanks to the Kyubi. Back when he first summoned Gamabunta, Naruto met the fox for the first time and demanded use of the fox's chakra.

Needless to say the Kyubi found it hilarious that such a small creature would demand such a thing from a demon of his caliber. Since he needed a good laugh, the fox decided to allow the boy to use his chakra at the time.

Afterwards, during Naruto's time at Mt. Myoboku, the Kyubi was confused when Naruto kept visiting. After a week of visits, the Kyubi demanded to know why the blond kept visiting him.

"_You're the reason why most of the village hates me, even though they never got to know me. I don't think it's fair to treat you the same way the villagers treat me, so I want to get to know you!"_

The fox more or less was surprised by Naruto's answer. This boy wanted to get to know him, even though he caused him so much pain? While it wasn't enough for the fox to turn a one-eighty, it was a start as the fox did reluctantly allow the boy to get to know him. The fox didn't delve too deep into his past though as Naruto still didn't know his true name and the Kyubi was going to keep it that way until he completely trusted the blond.

Back to reality, Naruto did focus his chakra and just like that, his chakra flooded his body, opening up his chakra points and mostly everyone in the arena could feel the surge of chakra.

'_How is he able to do this? No one should be able to open their chakra points like this!'_ thought Neji. He activated his Byakugan to figure this out and what he saw shocked him to the core. _'Wh-What is that?!'_

What the young Hyuga saw was nothing more than the shape of a fox's head formed from chakra, all of which was coming from Naruto. Neji wasn't sure what exactly this was, but he knew one thing and that he had to end this.

"This ends now," said Neji, getting into his Juken style.

Naruto brought out both of his fuma shuriken. "For once, we agree."

"**Fuuton: Kaze o Horisusumu no Jutsu!"**

The technique Naruto used sent a gust of wind, surprisingly into the ground like a drill. The wind traveled underground, creating a tunnel, before coming up where Neji was standing. The Hyuga, who saw it coming even without his Byakugan, of course dodged this.

The orange clad ninja then sped forward, spinning his weapons all the while. Neji, expecting this, rotated in place so he could defend against Naruto's attack. What Neji didn't expect was for Naruto to stop just before he reached the chakra dome and called out his technique.

"**Fuuton: Tatsumaki no Jutsu!"**

All of the wind chakra Naruto had built up in his spinning shuriken was unleashed as he aimed it at Neji's feet. The next thing Neji knew was that a tornado of wind chakra lifted him up into the air and there was nothing his **Hakkesho Kaiten **could do about it.

'_How is this possible?!'_ thought Neji as he was caught in the funnel.

Once the wind died down, Neji stayed in the air for just a second before he started to fall. Unfortunately for him he never reached the ground as Naruto met him half way with a punch to his jaw.

'_Who knew Naruto was such a heavy hitter. The again, considering who his father is, it shouldn't be too surprising,'_ thought Genma with a smirk as he watched Neji slam into the ground defeated. The majority of the audience, though, was surprised by the display Naruto showed during the fight.

"How? How did I lose to someone like you? You were nothing but a dead last," spoke Neji as he watched the sky from his position.

"True, I was a dead last during the academy," said Naruto, sitting down next to Neji. "But that wasn't going to stop me from achieving my dreams. If I had given up, then I really would have been a failure and I was not going to let that happen. To tell you the truth, I had failed the genin exams three times all because my worst jutsu was the Bunshin."

Neji glanced over at Naruto. "I find that hard to believe, considering what you've shown with the Kage Bunshin."

The blond let out a laugh. "It's true though. The Bunshin was my worst technique and no matter what I did, I couldn't do it."

"…And why was that?" asked Neji, his curiosity coming out.

"Similar to how Lee has next to nothing for chakra, I have too much chakra. Because of that, I can't do the simplest of jutsu and I can never use genjutsu."

"I see."

"…Hinata-chan told me about why you hate her and her father," said Naruto. Neji's eyes widened and a flash of anger went through them. How dare she tell someone about that?! He was going to say something, but Naruto cut him off. "While I don't have any family, I guess I'm the last guy to say anything about this subject, but why hate Hinata-chan because of that? What exactly could she have done to prevent what happened when she was only three at the time?"

Naruto's question floated around Neji's head, allowing the prodigy to think about it. As a child, it was easy to blame Hinata for his father's death, but now that he was older and able to think things through, Neji could see how foolish he has been to let his hatred control him like that. While he now knew it was never Hinata's fault, that didn't mean he couldn't still hate Hiashi. Neji wanted answers and he was going to get them.

Opening his eyes, Neji saw Naruto offering his hand. Without saying a word, Neji accepted the help and was pulled off the ground.

"Arigatou, Naruto," said Neji.

"If you really want to thank me, apologize to Hinata-chan when you get the chance," replied Naruto with a fox-like grin.

Neji let out a soft chuckle. "I'll make sure to do that."

Seeing that he was still weak from the beating he got, Naruto placed one of Neji's arms over his shoulders, planning on taking him to the medical room. The two genin didn't get far though when the medics came to them instead.

"We'll take it from here, Uzumaki-san," said one of the medics with a kind smile.

With a nod, Naruto let the medics take Neji while he headed back up to the fighters' balcony. He smiled as he took in the cheers he was getting.

-:-

Up in the stands, Naruto's former classmates were surprised that he was actually able to defeat Neji.

"How strong did Naruto get?" questioned Sakura.

"I know. I've trained with him a few times and seen him get better, but even I didn't think he'd be able to beat a prodigy like Neji," said Ino. She then added, "Maybe get a few good hits in, but not actually defeat him like that."

Hinata's thoughts were a little different from Sakura's and Ino's.

'_Arigatou, Naruto-kun, for giving me back Neji-niisan,'_ thought the little Hyuga with a small happy smile.

Someone calling her name soon interrupted her thoughts.

"Oi, Hinata!"

The group of genin looked over to where the voice came from to see Kiba coming towards them.

"Where have you been, Kiba?" questioned Ino.

"I've been looking for Hinata! We were supposed to meet up at the training grounds and then come here to watch the fights!" explained the panting Kiba. He was out of breath from running all over looking for his teammate.

"Arf!" barked Akamaru from inside Kiba's jacket.

Hinata blushed at that. "G-Gomen, Kiba."

"What happened anyway, Hinata?" asked the dog boy.

"Naruto brought her here," answered Ino with a grin. This made Hinata's face become even redder.

Kiba looked confused. "Naruto?"

"That's right, Kiba," spoke up Karin with a smirk. "Naruto found Hinata at the training grounds and decided to escort her here himself."

"Speaking of Naruto, you missed his match," said Choji, still munching away on his chips.

"I did? Aw man! Who won?!" asked Kiba.

"Naruto-san did. He showed remarkable skills during the match," explained Kiri.

"Damn! Can't believe I missed it!"

"Just sit down, Kiba. The next match is going to start," said Sakura.

-:-

At the same time as Kiba arriving, Hiruzen and the Kazekage were having a conversation of their own.

"I must say, Hokage-sama, that Uzumaki boy is quite intriguing," spoke the leader of Sunagakure. "It's surprising that he defeated the Hyuga prodigy."

Hiruzen nodded at this with a smile. "Indeed. Naruto-kun is just full of surprises."

Despite how calm Hiruzen looked, he felt tensed and the Kazekage was the reason for that. Though he was a very seasoned shinobi, Hiruzen couldn't for the life of him figure out why the Kazekage was giving a bad feeling. Another reason was the fact that the Mizukage never showed up to see Kirigakure's representatives fight. All Hiruzen could do was just sit and wait this out, see what happens. Hiruzen's thoughts were broken when the Kazekage spoke.

"The next match is about to start, Hokage-sama."

-:-

Genma had called for the next match, which was to be Shino versus Kankuro. Unfortunately for the audience, the fight never happened since Kankuro decided to forfeit.

"Why would he forfeit?" wondered Naruto.

"Good question," spoke Suigetsu.

"Do you think he's scared?" asked Naruto.

"Doubtful," said Shikamaru. "As troublesome as it is, I get the feeling that there's another reason."

"Agreed," said Shino. "Keep your eyes open for anything."

Seeing as how the finals had to continue, Genma called for Shikamaru and Temari to come down for their match. Temari was ready to fight and glided down to the field on her fan. Shikamaru on the other hand was also going to forfeit, finding this fight to be troublesome. The lazy ninja never got a chance though as Naruto had pushed him over the railing.

"Gomen, Shikamaru, but it had to be done!" called out the blond.

'_I'm going to get you for this, Naruto,'_ thought Shikamaru, standing up and moving on over to where Genma and Temari were.

Once ready, the fight went on and it was an interesting one to say the least. Shikamaru used what could have been described as useless attacks throughout the match and Temari had kept taunting him about it, sending her own stronger attacks out in the process. What the Suna kunoichi didn't know was that Shikamaru had this match won from the start, as he was always five steps ahead of Temari. He had used his genius to maneuver Temari into position and than used the tunnel that Naruto created to trap her with his shadow technique. When it looked liked he had won, Shikamaru shocked everyone when he decided to quit, stating that he was low on chakra.

With that out of the way, Shikamaru headed back up to where Naruto and the others were.

"Ino's going to kill you, y'know?" said Naruto as they could actually hear the blonde ranting about lazy ninja.

"Troublesome," said the Nara with a sigh. "Doesn't matter. It just didn't want to fight anymore matches…plus I didn't want to hurt girl."

"Better not let that Temari chick hear you say that. She don't look like the type of girl who'd go for that sort of thing," stated Suigetsu with a sharp-toothed grin.

Shikamaru could only let out another troublesome.

It was now time for the next match, Sasuke versus Sashimi. Like Temari, Sashimi was ready for a fight and made her way down to the field. Sasuke though was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell is that little punk?!" demanded the Kirigakure kunoichi.

Just as she asked that question, a swirl of leaves appeared a few feet in front of her. When the leaves fell, Kakashi and Sasuke, who was now wearing an all black outfit, were standing there.

"Sorry that we're late. We just got lost on the road of life," said Kakashi.

Genma let out a chuckle. "Actually, Kakashi, you and Sasuke are right on time. Of course if you were late, Sasuke here would have been disqualified."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at that while Kakashi nodded his head in understanding.

"Makes sense. No one gets special treatment after all," said Kakashi, saying that last part more for Sasuke than anything else. He then turned to the Uchiha. "Good luck with your match, Sasuke."

With that, Kakashi poofed out of there and reappeared near Sakura and the others.

"Heh, you'll need more than luck to beat me, you little punk," stated Sashimi as she pulled out her knives.

The younger Uchiha turned a glare towards Sashimi. "I don't need anything. I will win this."

Genma then singled for the start of the match when the two combatants were ready. Sashimi made the first move and vanished out of sight, only to reappear behind Sasuke, ready to stab him. She was surprised though when Sasuke was able dodge.

Sashimi was not able to do anything else as Sasuke, with blinding speed, disarmed her of her knives, took said knives, and stabbed them through both her temple and jugular, ending the match in his victory. This action was met with several horrified stares from those watching.

As the now dead Sashimi collapsed to the ground, Sasuke spoke. "I told you I would win this."

-:-

With Sakura and the others, they couldn't believe what they had witnessed. Sakura was shocked and horrified to see Sasuke do such a thing. Ino and Hinata looked like they were going to be sick, while Choji had lost his appetite. Karin started shivering as she remembered feeling Sasuke's cold chakra when she first met him, knowing that it must have been much worse now. Kiba was growling, wondering why Sasuke had gone that far when there was no need. Kiri, who had gone pale, obviously took it the hardest, since Sashimi was his teammate.

Sakura, wanting to know why, turned to Kakashi for answers. She was surprised to see that her sensei was just as shocked as they were from what just happened.

'_Why did you do that, Sasuke?'_

-:-

With the Kages, Hiruzen shook his head in disappointment. He knew killing was a given in the life of a shinobi, but he had hoped that none of his shinobi would willingly kill and had also hoped that by placing Sasuke under Kakashi's guidance, it would have deterred the boy from his plans for revenge. It seems that he was wrong

The "Kazekage" on the other hand was grinning sinisterly under his mask.

'_Kukukuku. How delightful, Sasuke-kun. You're coming along nicely.'_

-:-

Back with the competitors, Suigetsu was trying to get to Sasuke. Luckily, Shikamaru was able to trap the Hozuki with his shadow.

"Let me at that bastard! I'm going to make him pay for what he did!" yelled Suigetsu, livid that he had to watch his teammate die.

"Suigetsu! You need to calm down! Besides, I thought you hated Sashimi?" questioned Naruto.

Suigetsu let out a growl. "She may have pissed me off most of the time, but she was still my teammate, damn it! I'm going to kill that Uchiha!"

It was then that Shino stepped in front of Suigetsu.

"Suigetsu-san, I can understand wanting to avenge your teammate, but doing so will only result in more problems," said the bug user in his monotone voice. "I can assure you that the Hokage and Kakashi-sensei will see to this after the Chunin Exams are done as what Sasuke did is not the way a Konoha shinobi should behave."

Suigetsu let out another growl and looked as if he was going to start killing, but soon relented with a grunt.

"Fine! Not that it matters anyway," said the Hozuki. He then gained a grin that sent shivers down their spines. "I'll just win my match and then kill Sasuke in the next round."

After the medics had taken Sashimi's body away, it was then time for Suigetsu's match against Gaara. The two boys made their way down to the field and stood across from each other. Genma looked at the two boys.

"Are you two ready?" questioned the senbon chewing jonin.

Gaara nodded his head. "I am ready."

Suigetsu scoffed. "What do you think? Of course I'm ready!"

Genma rolled his eyes. "Then let the match begin!"

Genma then jumped out of the way as to let the two boys go at it. Gaara started things off with a stream of sand that head right for Suigetsu. The young Hozuki though shot a stream of water from his mouth, which collided with the sand, turning it into mud. Gaara cast a hateful glare at Suigetsu, while the water user returned it with a smirk.

"Gonna say it right now. Don't fuck with me, Sandman, 'cause I'm pissed as it is!"

That was when Suigetsu brought out Kubikiribocho. After he brought out his blade, Suigetsu's arm started to grow and become more muscular.

"**Suiton: Gousuiwan no Jutsu!"**

Whatever Suigetsu had planned, Gaara was not going to let it happen. The redhead sent stream after stream of sand after Suigetsu, but the white-haired boy was able to cut through the sand as he ran towards Gaara. The sand user was surprised to see someone get so close to him like this. Just as Suigetsu was about to bring down blade, Gaara put up a shield of hardened sand, which was able to stop the blade…if only for a short moment.

That short moment was all Gaara needed to surround himself in a sand dome. Suigetsu then had to jump back as the dome exuded sand spikes; ready to impale anyone who got close.

With Gaara's siblings, they knew what their brother was about to do and were scared.

"What the hell is he thinking?!" hissed Kankuro. "It's too early for that!"

Suigetsu, not knowing what Gaara was up to, was just getting angrier than he already was.

"Grah! I don't have time for you to be a coward!"

Taking his muscular arm and pointing it towards the sand dome, Suigetsu used all of the water in his arm and shot off a needle-like missile of water towards Gaara. The speed and size of the missile were able to allow it to pierce the dome and hit Gaara right in the shoulder.

The three Sand Siblings could not believe that Gaara's defense was able to be penetrated, Gaara especially. The young redhead moved his hand up to where he was hit and felt a warm liquid. Looking at his hand, Gaara saw the red that stained it and after seeing it, he could only do one thing. Scream.

The agonizing yells of Gaara echoed through the stadium. It was then that a smoke bomb went off in the Kages' box and feathers floated down around the stadium. The feathers, being a genjutsu, put the civilians asleep, while the shinobi were able to escape by releasing the genjutsu.

"What the hell is going on?! Oi!" demanded Suigetsu as he saw Temari and Kankuro carry their fallen brother away.

"Go after them!" said Genma, ready to take on Baki, the Sand Siblings' sensei. "It looks like war has begun."

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**As I said earlier, I am so sorry for the wait. I really have no excuse and I will try not to be lazy about it.**

**Anyway, to start with, Karin has learned the truth about who she is. I know some of you want Naruto to find out and he will…just not soon. He will find out before the time jump though.**

**With the final battles, as you can see Naruto and Neji's fight was a little different in how it went down, what with Naruto using new wind jutsu. With Sashimi, I had always planned on killing her off. She was nothing but filler for Suigetsu's team since at the time I made her; there were no other Kirigakure kunoichi to use. She was never meant to have a big role. Next we have Suigetsu and Gaara's battle. Since Suigetsu is a water user, he's much more of a challenge for Gaara than Sasuke would have been, especially since the only thing Sasuke had was the Chidori, while Suigetsu has an array of water jutsu to turn that sand into useless mud.**

**Well, this chapter ends the Chunin Exam Arc. The next chapter will be the battle against Gaara and Shukaku, i.e. the Invasion of Konoha Arc, and maybe a little bit of the Search for Tsunade Arc. Speaking of story arcs, I'm going to warn you now; I will be including some of the filler arcs and movies into this story. Not all, but some. Mainly the ones I feel will add to the story.**

**Translations:**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique**

**Hakkesho Kaiten – Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven**

**Hakke Rokujuyon Sho – Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms**

**Fuuton: Kaze o Horisusumu no Jutsu – Wind Release: Burrowing Wind Technique (My own jutsu)**

**Fuuton: Tatsumaki no Jutsu – Wind Release: Tornado Technique (Another one of my own creations)**

**Suiton: Gousuiwan no Jutsu – Water Release: Great Water Arm Technique**


	8. Life and Death

Naruto, Suigetsu, and Shikamaru jumped from branch to branch as they tried to catch up with the Sand Siblings. Both Kakashi and Genma had ordered them to chase after Gaara and stop him while the rest of Konoha's forces dealt with the Oto and Suna Alliance. They also had to bring back Sasuke, who had gone on ahead to fight Gaara himself. With that task, Kakashi sent one of his ninken, Pakkun to help track him down.

"What the hell is that Uchiha's problem?!" demanded Suigetsu. "Does he have a death wish or what?!"

"Never mind that now. We've got bigger problems," said Shikamaru as he came to a stop.

"What are you doing, Shikamaru?" questioned Naruto. He soon got his answer when nine Oto jonin appeared.

"Looks like trouble," said the pug dog.

"Go on ahead without me. I'll handle these guys," stated Shikamaru.

Not needed to be told twice, Naruto, Suigetsu, and Pakkun went on ahead. One of the Oto shinobi tried to follow, but Shikamaru threw a kunai at him to make him stop.

"Look at the little weak genin, thinking he can beat all of us," taunted the Oto ninja.

The young Nara didn't say anything and got ready for a fight.

-:-

"Oi, Naruto! Got any ideas on how we can stop that Gaara guy? I don't think my water jutsu alone could beat him now that I know what he's capable of," said Suigetsu as the three continued on.

"I have no idea! We might just have to improvise!"

The three were soon able to catch up with Sasuke, who was about to fight against Kankuro.

"Get out of my way," said Sasuke, glaring at the puppet user.

"Not a chance, Uchiha brat. If you want to continue, you'll have to fight me!" declared Kankuro as he prepared his puppet Karasu.

"Except that I will be your opponent."

Everyone looked up to see Shino standing on a nearby branch.

"What are you doing here?!" demanded Kankuro.

"We were to battle in the finals. I plan on having that battle," explained Shino, not showing any emotion. "The rest of you go on ahead while I take on Kankuro-san."

Normally he wouldn't let anyone take over his fights, but Sasuke made an exception this one time since he really wanted to fight Gaara. Taking the opportunity, Sasuke dodged around Kankuro and continued following after Temari and Gaara.

"Damn it!" cried out both Suigetsu and Kankuro, for letting Sasuke get away. While Suigetsu was able to follow after Sasuke, Shino stopped Kankuro.

"Good luck, Shino!" called out Naruto as he and Pakkun followed Suigetsu.

"You think you can beat me?" questioned Kankuro, Karasu ready for the battle.

"I do not think. Why? Because I know I can beat you."

The two then began their clash.

-:-

"Gaara, just hold on," pleaded Temari as she carried Gaara through the forest.

"Blood. Mother must have blood," said Gaara.

Temari shuddered. Gaara's bloodlust was getting worse. As much as he scared her, he was still her little brother and she would protect him with her life.

"Found you."

Temari turned to see Sasuke land on a tree branch. He was looking directly at Gaara, ready to finish him off.

Sasuke was going to have a challenge on his hands as Gaara released himself from Temari's hold and glared with great killing intent at Sasuke. Sand soon formed from the gourd on Gaara's back and wrapped around the redhead's arm and back, making a large claw and tail respectively. Sand also melded with half of Gaara's face, giving him a demonic look.

"You will be my prey!" shouted Gaara, his voice sounding with a demonic tone.

Temari's fear grew as she watched Gaara and Sasuke clash. Shukaku was taking over and there was nothing she could do. Her attention was then drawn to Naruto, Suigetsu, and Pakkun who had just arrived.

"What the hell is that?" questioned Suigetsu as he watched the half-Shukaku Gaara fight and easily overpower Sasuke.

"I think that's Gaara! We need to stop him now!" shouted Naruto.

"Can it wait until after he kills Sasuke?" asked Suigetsu, still wanting the Uchiha dead for what he did to Sashimi. This earned him a glare from Naruto and Pakkun. "Alright, we'll help him out."

The three were about to go forward, but Temari stood in their way.

"I won't let you harm Gaara!" declared Temari, getting her fan ready.

"Look, Blondie, we don't have time for this shit! If you want to go at it, then I'm all for it!" said Suigetsu as he drew his blade.

Naruto saw this as the opportunity to go after Gaara, who had just defeated Sasuke. Pakkun, not being able to do much else, got out of the way.

"It's over!" shouted Gaara as he raised his claw to finish off Sasuke.

He never got the chance as Naruto came and drove his knee into Gaara's face, pushing the tanuki boy away.

"What do you think you're doing, dobe?! This is my fight!" shouted Sasuke as he tried to stand up.

"Can it, teme! In case you haven't noticed, Gaara beat you and you can barely stand. I'll take things from here!" declared Naruto, tightening his headband.

"You think you can beat me, Uzumaki Naruto?" came the demonic voice of Gaara. "Show me!"

Sand seeped over the rest of Gaara's body, making him look more like a miniature Shukaku than he already did. Not wasting any time, Gaara leapt forward towards Naruto.

As the two jinchuriki clashed, Suigetsu and Temari continued their own battle.

"I don't know why you're even protecting him! You seem more scared of him than concerned," taunted Suigetsu as he tried to slash Temari, only for her to avoid it using her wind jutsu.

"You don't know anything! I will always protect Gaara no matter what! He's my brother!" said Temari as she sent some wind blades towards Suigetsu.

Suigetsu used his water body to propel himself out of the way in time. He then looked towards Temari with what could be described as sympathy.

'_So that's why she's putting her life on the line for him. Damn it. It reminds me of Mangetsu,'_ thought the young Hozuki, memories of his brother flooding his mind. _'Consider yourself lucky, Blondie. I'm still going to fight you, but I won't kill you.'_

Suigetsu then jumped back into the fray.

With Naruto, Gaara was overpowering him, just as Sasuke was.

"What's the matter, Uzumaki Naruto? I thought you said you could beat me!"

Naruto panted as he looked at Gaara. As the battle went on, Gaara became more and more deranged. He had to stop this now. Biting his thumb, Naruto gathered up his chakra to summon some help.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"**

In a puff of smoke, Naruto's summon was revealed. Unfortunately for Naruto, it was a small orange toad in a blue vest.

"Yo," greeted the little amphibian with a wave.

"What the hell?! I was trying to summon Gamabunta!" cried Naruto as he wondered how this happened.

"**You're chakra control must still be messed up from the fight with the Hyuga, Kit. It hasn't had time to realign itself, especially since you've been using it in the last few minutes,"** stated the fox.

"Just great," muttered Naruto.

"Oi, what do you need my dad for anyway?" asked the toad. He soon got his answer when he heard the roar of Gaara. Turning around, Gaara's sand claw almost crushed the little toad, but Naruto was able to save him in time.

"That was close," said Naruto as he jumped away.

"I'll say! I was almost flatter than a lily pad! Thanks for saving me. I'm Gamakichi by the way," said the toad as he rested in Naruto's arms.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," said the orange clad ninja. He then placed Gamakichi down. "You stay out of sight for now while I take care of this guy."

"Right!"

With that, Gamakichi hopped to a safe place near Pakkun while Naruto went back to fight Gaara.

'_Looks like I'm on my own with this one,'_ thought the fox boy. He then made his familiar hand sign. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Multiple Naruto appeared on the battlefield, but Gaara was not impressed.

"You think this will help you?! I'll kill every last one of them!"

Gaara sent his sand claw forward to swipe at the Naruto clones. While Gaara was distracted, the real Naruto snuck behind Gaara and made his move.

"**Sennen Goroshi!"**

Now with a name like that, one would expect a very powerful and deadly move. Unfortunately for the spectators all they saw was Naruto shove a kunai up Gaara's ass.

"Just great, Kakashi. You just had to show him that technique," muttered Pakkun.

The others had similar to different reactions. Gamakichi was disappointed, while Sasuke looked at Naruto as if he was an idiot. Temari was blushing greatly, while Suigetsu was laughing his ass off.

"What the hell kind of technique was that?!" questioned Suigetsu as he tried to get his laughter under control.

Gaara apparently didn't like this so he swatted Naruto away. This allowed Naruto to set off the next part of the attack.

"Boom."

An explosion rocked the area as a paper bomb that was attached to the kunai went off, engulfing Gaara with no escape. The spectators were surprised that Naruto came up with such an idea.

"Heh, Kakashi will be impressed when he finds out that the kid actually made that "technique" useful," said Pakkun with a smirk.

"Gotta say, Naruto really knows how to think on his feet," muttered Suigetsu with a sharp-toothed grin.

The smoke soon cleared and Gaara stood there, most of his sand gone. It started to reform though so Naruto had to act quickly.

"**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

Everyone was shocked by how many clones Naruto had created. Though they obviously couldn't count them all, there were nine hundred ninety-nine Naruto clones surrounding them.

"I won't let you beat me!" cried Gaara, his sand reformed.

The tanuki boy didn't have a chance to say anymore as Naruto went on the attack.

"**U-ZU-MA-KI!"** shouted some of the clones as they kicked Gaara into the air. As Gaara came down, Naruto continued his assault. **"Naruto Nisen Rendan!"**

The barrage of punches that the clones assaulted Gaara with pummeled him into submission. Naruto finished off the barrage with two powerful uppercuts from the left and right.

Temari couldn't believe what she was watching. _'How is this possible?! No one has ever been able to hurt Gaara like this before! Yet this kid is able to do it with such ease!'_

Sasuke watched on, wondering what he was seeing. _'How did Naruto become this strong? He was always the dead last, he shouldn't be this strong!'_

"Had enough, Gaara?" questioned Naruto. He got his answer in the form of a demonic roar coming from the sand user.

"I will not lose to the likes of you!"

Demonic energy surrounded Gaara as more and more sand piled onto him, making him bigger and bigger. Everyone watched on as the form of Shukaku stood before them. Gaara soon emerged from the tanuki's forehead.

"This can't be happening!" cried Temari.

'_So that's what this Gaara kid is. He's a jinchuriki,'_ thought Suigetsu as he looked at Shukaku. _'Naruto, you've got a lot of work ahead of you.'_

"You will die, Uzumaki Naruto!" screamed Gaara, his bloodlust reaching an all time high. **"Sabaku Kyuu!"**

Tendrils of sand shot out from Shukaku's arm and encased Naruto within. Trying with all his might, Naruto tried to escape, but couldn't.

'_I need to get the hell out of here! Oi, Kyubi! Lend me some chakra!'_

"**On it, Kit! Show this weakling tanuki who the strongest is!"**

"It's over, Uzumaki Naruto!" screamed the sand user. **"Sabaku Sousou!"**

Just as Gaara was about to finish off Naruto, a surge of chakra erupted from the sand coffin and with an explosion, Naruto was free…but not alone. Naruto now stood atop the boss of the toads, Gamabunta.

"**Why have you summoned me this time, gaki?"** demanded the toad boss, looking up at Naruto who was atop of his head.

"I need you help fighting this guy!" shouted Naruto as he pointed towards Shukaku.

Gamabunta looked over and his eyes widened a bit at seeing the sand tanuki. He then glared up at Naruto.

"**You expect me to fight against a biju? What's going through that brain of yours?!"**

"Oi! I'm supposed to be your follower remember?! Show me some respect!"

"**You're not my follower yet, gaki! You're not even old enough to drink saké with me!"**

"C'mon, Pops! You've got to help!" cried Gamakichi.

"**Hm? Gamakichi? What are you doing here?"**

"Naruto summoned me by accident and then saved me from the sand guy!" explained the little toad.

"**Is this true, Naruto?"** questioned Gamabunta.

"Of course it is! I wasn't going to let Gamakichi get hurt, even if I had just met him!"

"**Hm. Very well then, I shall help you fight Shukaku,"** said Gamabunta as he drew his tantou. **"I'll show you plenty of honor-bound duty!"**

The toad boss leapt forward, with Naruto holding on with chakra, ready to slash at Shukaku. He was able to cut off one of Shukaku's arms, but had to quickly retreat when Shukaku tried to attack with his tail.

"I have had enough of this!" yelled Gaara. "I must kill you now!** Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu!"**

"**This is not good,"** muttered Gamabunta as he watched Gaara slump forward.

"Why? What's happening?" asked Naruto.

"**Shukaku is a being who gets his true powers when his host is asleep and since that boy has put himself to sleep…"**

Naruto didn't need to be told anymore as he figured it out. He watched as Shukaku fully awakened.

"**I'm finally out! And here's someone that I want to kill right now!" **laughed Shukaku as he looked at Gamabunta.

"**Hmph, you've got a set of balls on you if you think I'll be killed so easily,"** replied the toad boss.

Shukaku only laughed as he then took a deep breath and then pounded on his stomach, sending out a large bullet of air. Gamabunta was able to jump out of the way and fire back with his own water bullets. It was a clash between wind and water, toad and tanuki, but it seemed that Shukaku had the advantage.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" cried out Naruto.

"**We need to wake up that brat! If we can do that, then Shukaku will no longer have any hold on him and will have to return to the seal," **explained Gamabunta as he dodged another wind bullet.

"Well how do we do that?!" questioned Naruto as he held on.

"**If I had teeth and claws, I would be able to hold Shukaku still for a moment. That would allow you to wake up the brat!"**

"Teeth and claws? Oi, Gamabunta! I have an idea! I'll provide the chakra and you do the hand sign!"

Gamabunta knew right away what Naruto was getting at. With a surge of chakra coming from the blond, the toad boss performed a reverse ram sign. In a large puff a smoke, the two disappeared. Shukaku was about to attack the smokescreen, only to be surprised when a giant nine-tailed fox emerged and latched onto him.

"**Kurama?! What are you doing here?!"** questioned the tanuki as he started to struggle.

Down below, those who were watching the battle between giants were also surprised by the Kyubi's appearance.

'_How can the nine-tailed fox be alive? I had heard the Yondaime Hokage killed it. Unless…'_ thought Suigetsu as he watched on.

Another puff of smoke surrounded the fox, this time revealing that it was in actuality Gamabunta and Naruto. Now that he was close enough, Naruto launched himself off of Gamabunta's head and made his way towards Gaara.

"Wake up!" shouted Naruto as he got closer.

Not going to allow that to happen, sand tendrils shot out to ensnare Naruto, but were held back by the Kyubi's chakra, which was leaking out of Naruto. The blond unfortunately was not able to reach Gaara with his fist, but he was able to wake up the redhead with one well-placed head-butt. This was enough to wake up Gaara.

"**Oh come on! I just got here!"** cried Shukaku as he crumbled away, no longer able to control Gaara. With Shukaku gone, Gamabunta also took his leave, leaving the rest to Naruto.

Naruto and Gaara fell through the air, landing on a couple of tree tops. They stared at each other, ready to end this once and for all.

"I will not lose to you!" shouted Gaara.

"Then bring it!" counter Naruto.

The two boys launched at each other, enough chakra for one final attack. Luckily for Naruto, his attack was the one to connect as his fist drove right into Gaara's chin. The redhead fell to the earth in a heap, Naruto not far behind. The two were completely drained, unable to get up. Wanting to know if Gaara was truly defeated, Naruto started to crawl towards the sand user. This made Gaara terrified.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!"

"Tell me. Would I have become just like you if I had lived a similar life?" asked Naruto.

"Wh-What?"

"I'm sure you've figured out what I am, Gaara. We're exactly the same."

"…You hold a demon inside of you."

"Hai."

"But how?! You're nothing like me!"

"No? Like you I was ignored and hated by the villagers when I was a kid. It hurt a lot, being treated like that."

"…Then why are you not like me? Why do you not fight for yourself?"

The fox boy gave of his signature grin. "Because I was able to find people who are precious to me. People I would put my life on the line for. I would even put my life on the line for my village. I want to become Hokage so I can prove them all wrong!"

"But…"

"You could do that to, Gaara. Aren't your brother and sister worth protecting? They seemed pretty adamant about protecting you."

Before Gaara could respond, a hand was placed on his head.

"He's right, Gaara. Kankuro and I will always protect you, no matter what."

The young redhead looked up to see Temari looking down at him. He also noticed that there were unshed tears in her eyes.

"Temari?"

It was then that Kankuro arrived and he was pretty exhausted from his battle with Shino.

"We should leave," said Temari, lifting the now passed out Gaara off the ground and placing one of his arms around her shoulders.

Kankuro agreed and took Gaara's other arm. Before the three could leave though, they were stopped by a familiar voice.

"Hold it!"

Temari and Kankuro turned and were surprised to see their sensei, Baki. He wasn't alone as Kakashi, who was carrying a battered Sasuke on his back, Asuma, and Shino's father Shibi was with him.

"Baki, what's going on?" questioned Kankuro, not liking what he was seeing.

"We're going back to Konoha for now," replied the half-veiled man.

"But why?!" demanded Temari. She was afraid of what they would do to Gaara.

Baki clenched his fists. "We were tricked into fighting them. We need to make things right."

"Tricked? By who?" asked Suigetsu as he came up lifted the passed out Naruto off the ground and placed the blond on his back.

It was Kakashi who spoke next. "Orochimaru. More will be explained once we get back to the village and you are rested."

Temari and Kankuro wanted to argue, but the stern look from Baki made them reconsider. They followed after the group, silently vowing to keep Gaara safe.

-:-

Naruto opened his eyes, only to look up at the ceiling of his room. It had been a few days since the evasion, the dead long since buried. The thought brought a pain to Naruto's chest as he remembered that he would never see his Jiji again. Hiruzen wasn't the only one to die that day. Shinobi and civilians alike, including Emporium Karin had lost their lives during the invasion. Naruto was going to miss Emporium Karin as well, especially since she was one of the few people to treat his like a person and never overcharge him.

Naruto then remembered who caused all of this. Orochimaru. When he awoke after his battle with Gaara. Kakashi had explained that it was found that Orochimaru had killed the Kazekage and manipulated Sunagakure into attacking Konoha. This allowed Sunagakure to reform an alliance with Konoha.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto got out of bed. There was no use moping anymore, as it wouldn't do any good for him. He soon got dressed and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Whatever Haku was making, it smelled really good. When he arrived to the kitchen, he stopped short when he noticed who was there. Aside from Haku and Suigetsu, his usual roommates for the past few weeks, the Sand Siblings and Karin were also there eating breakfast as well.

"Okay, not that I have any real problems with this, I still have to ask; why are you all here?" questioned Naruto.

"You might want to ask that busty redheaded woman that question," replied Kankuro with a grin. This earned him glares from Temari and Karin.

"Mei-sama thought it would be best if Gaara-san, Temari-san, and Kankuro-san stay here for the remainder of their stay in Konoha and Kakashi-san and Baki-san agreed. As for Karin, she will be staying here permanently," explained Haku.

"Don't know why on that last one, since she's so damn annoying," muttered Suigetsu, only to receive a hard hit to the head from the redhead.

"What was that, you walking raindrop?" growled Karin as she glared at the Hozuki.

"You heard what I said, you crazy broad!"

This of course earned the white-haired boy another punch to the head, which caused the two to continue arguing with each other.

"Have they been like this all morning?" questioned Naruto, a sweatdrop forming.

"Try all week. They really hate each other," replied Temari.

"That's because he's a dumbass who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut!" said Karin, who overheard Temari.

"Psh, whatever, you annoyance," said Suigetsu, making Karin even angrier. He then turned to the orange-clad ninja. "Oi, Naruto, I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay…"

The two took their leave and headed up to the roof of Naruto's home. Once there, Suigetsu spoke up.

"So you're a jinchuriki, huh?"

Naruto stiffened at the question. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't give me that! It's obvious that you're one after watching your fight with Gaara. So out with it!"

"Why do you want to know if I'm a jinchuriki or not?" questioned Naruto, getting on guard.

"I'm not going to treat you any different if that's what you're afraid of. You're not all that different from Utakata."

"Utakata? Who is that?" asked Naruto, looking confused.

Suigetsu gave off a sharp-toothed grin. "He's a jinchuriki from Kirigakure and a complete badass!"

"Really?"

"Damn straight! He may not be a swordsman, but he has these really cool techniques with bubbles!"

"…Bubbles?"

"Oi, I was skeptical at first as well since they were bubbles, but he can make them deadly. He's actually on par with the Hozuki Clan when it comes to Suiton techniques. I wanted him to be my sensei instead of Raiga, but that of course never happened."

"How come?"

Suigetsu frowned. "He left Kirigakure. His master, who wanted the power of Utakata's biju, betrayed him, so he up and left."

Naruto clenched his fist at that. "Bastard."

"Agreed. Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that just because you're a jinchuriki doesn't mean everyone will see you as the demon you hold. I don't see Utakata as a demon, Gaara's siblings don't see him as a demon, and you've definitely got a few people who don't see you as a demon either," said Suigetsu.

"The kid's right, gaki," said a voice that made Naruto and Suigetsu jump. Turning around, they saw that it was Jiraiya.

"What the hell, Ero-sennin!" yelled Naruto as he glared at the old man.

"What did I tell you about that name, gaki?!" yelled back Jiraiya, returning the glare.

"What do you want, old man?" demanded Suigetsu.

Jiraiya let out a sigh. "Kids these days. No respect for their elders. If you want to know what I want, I'm here for Naruto. I'm taking him on a little mission with me."

"Really? Are you going to teach me a new jutsu as well?" asked Naruto, starting to get excited.

"As a matter of fact, I am."

"Yatta!"

"Go inside and pack your things, gaki, and then meet me at the village gates. We'll be gone for a while."

With a nod, Naruto rushed back into the house, leaving Jiraiya and Suigetsu on the roof. Suigetsu would be lying if he said the Gama Sennin didn't make him nervous.

"What else did you want, old man?" questioned the Hozuki boy.

"Thanks for accepting Naruto like you did," replied Jiraiya. Seeing the boy's confusion, he elaborated. "Seeing as how you know of jinchuriki, I'm sure you also know what kind of life they live. Naruto was no different."

"Yeah, well, Naruto's pretty cool once you get to know him. Only an idiot would think he's a demon," said Suigetsu as he crossed his arms over his chest. _'Besides, I'm more of a demon than Naruto would ever be, hehehe.'_

Jiraiya nodded at that, unaware of Suigetsu's thoughts. "Good to hear that. You better go pack as well. You and your team are supposed to be leaving today, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Suigetsu left to pack, leaving Jiraiya alone.

'_Hozuki Suigetsu, the Kijin no Sairai. You've made a powerful ally, Naruto.'_

With that, Jiraiya left to meet Naruto.

-:-

Later at the gates, Raiga and Mei were in the middle of a conversation.

"So what the hell am I supposed to tell Yagura about the treaty? He's been getting impatient," growled the green-haired swordsman.

"Tell him that he'll have to wait a little longer. Orochimaru's interference put everything to a halt," replied Mei, not liking that her own plans were in jeopardy. With Hiruzen gone, their original agreement could become null and void. Hopefully, whoever the new Hokage will be will continue to uphold the agreement.

Raiga let out a grunt. "Damn snake. And damn Konoha for letting him run loose."

Mei glared at the swordsman. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you, Raiga, especially considering we are trying to become allies with Konoha."

"Uh, Mei-sama…"

The busty redhead turned to the young healer of Team Raiga. "Hai, Kiri-kun."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what has become of Sashimi's body?"

"Yeah and what the hell happened with the Uchiha? Did he get what he deserved yet?" questioned Suigetsu, still wanting to kill Sasuke.

Mei turned to Ao, who stood off to the side with Chojuro, and took a scroll from the hunter ninja. She then turned back to the two genin and handed it to Kiri.

"Sashimi's body is sealed in that scroll. It's so she can be taken back to Kirigakure and given a proper burial. As for Sasuke, without a Hokage, a proper punishment cannot be given, but Kakashi is making sure he's getting some sort of punishment."

"If you ask me, that Uchiha brat shouldn't get a punishment. We're shinobi. Our objective is to kill," said Raiga with a sneer. This earned him a glare from both Mei and Suigetsu.

"We kill when it is necessary. There was no need for Sasuke to kill Sashimi during the finals. If a shinobi needlessly kills, then he is no better than a common murderer," said Mei with conviction.

Any further arguments were halted when Naruto and Jiraiya arrived. Along with them were the Sand Siblings and Baki, who were setting out to return to Sunagakure.

"Oi, Mei-chan! What are you doing here?" asked Naruto once he got closer.

Mei gave the boy a smile. "Just seeing off Raiga's team and something else."

"What's that?"

"I'm going to have Chojuro accompany you and Jiraiya on your mission," replied the redhead with a smile on her blue lips.

Naruto, Chojuro, and Jiraiya looked at the woman with wide eyes. Chojuro was the one to speak first. "Mei-sama, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course, Chojuro! Besides, I'm sure Jiraiya could use the help," replied Mei, casting a glance towards the hermit.

Jiraiya was no fool. He could tell right away that the only reason Mei wanted Chojuro to tagalong was to make sure nothing happened to Naruto. It seemed that she was still upset about the whole "dropping Naruto down a deep trench" thing.

"Fine, he can come along," said Jiraiya with a sigh. If there's one thing he's learned over the years when dealing with women like this, it's best to give them what they want and not argue.

Mei gave off her smile. "Good."

With Naruto, he was conversing with Suigetsu and Gaara.

"So you guys are heading home now?"

"Pretty much, Naruto. Not like we can stay any longer," said Suigetsu.

"It seems that the alliance between Suna and Konoha is secure, so we too must leave as our business is done here," said Gaara in a monotone.

"It's too bad we couldn't hang out longer though," stated the blond as he crossed his arms behind his head. "Oi, Gaara! Next time we meet, we should have a rematch! Y'know, between friends!"

The tanuki boy's eyes widened at the term. "Friends? You consider me a friend?"

The fox boy gave off his signature grin. "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

Gaara couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even after everything he had done, someone actually wanted to be his friend? Gaara then did something he hadn't done in a very long time. He smiled. A true smile.

"I would like that, Naruto."

Temari and Kankuro watched the scene take place. They were truly happy for their little brother.

Jiraiya's voice then called out. "Okay, gaki! Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, Ero-sennin!"

"Stop calling me that!"

Naruto laughed at the hermit's ire. He then turned to Gaara and Suigetsu. "Oi, let's make things interesting. Let's see who is the fastest and race up to the point where we'll go our separate ways."

Suigetsu gave off a sharp-toothed grin. "You're on!"

"Very well," replied Gaara with a nod.

"Then let's go!" shouted Naruto as he, Suigetsu, and Gaara took off.

"Get back here, gaki!" yelled Jiraiya, running after the three. The rest of the group quickly followed as to not lose them.

Back at the gate, Mei couldn't stop her giggles as she watched her nephew race off, while Ao let out a sigh at such behavior.

"That boy has a long way to go before he can become a true shinobi," said the eye patch wearing man.

"Ao, what did I tell you about speaking ill of Naruto-kun? Do so again and I will kill you."

"But…"

"No buts! Naruto-kun is a fine shinobi as he is and I do not want him to ever change his personality for anyone. Do I make myself clear?" questioned Mei with narrowed eyes pointed towards Ao.

"Hai," relented the man.

"Good."

With that, the two Kirigakure shinobi turned and headed back towards the hotel they have been staying at. Mei though took one last look at the gate.

'_Come home safe, Naruto-kun.'_

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**And that's the end of that story arc. Next chapter will truly start the Search for Tsunade Arc.**

**The battle with Gaara…as you can see, I omitted Sakura. The reason…whether she was there or not would not have made any difference. Naruto is smart enough to know that if Gaara/Shukaku wasn't stop then many people would have been killed, so he would have fought with everything he had regardless of whether or not Sakura was trapped in a sand claw. I kept Sasuke though since him seeing Naruto beat someone he couldn't is a very important turning point in his character.**

**As we've seen, Shukaku has blurted out Kurama's name. That will be addressed between Naruto and Kurama next chapter.**

**Yes, I killed off Emporium Karin. I looked back at the chapter I introduced her in and questioned why I did that. There was absolutely nothing I could do with her and since it was to late to go back and write her out, I decided to kill her off in this chapter. Plus I didn't want to have two Karin in the story. It would get way to confusing.**

**Suigetsu's talk with Naruto about Utakata will play a big part later on in the story. I'm sure some of you have figured out when it will happen though. If not, just sit back and wait.**

**Lastly, we've got Chojuro joining Naruto and Jiraiya in looking for Tsunade. It should be interesting to see how the shy swordsman deals with the two.**

**Translations:**

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning Technique**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique**

**Sennen Goroshi – One Thousand Years of Death**

**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**Uzumaki Naruto Nisen Rendan – Uzumaki Naruto Two Thousand Combo**

**Sabaku Kyuu – Sand Binding Coffin**

**Sabaku Sousou – Sand Waterfall Funeral**

**Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu – Feigning Sleep Technique**


	9. Itachi

Two cloaked figures, their faces hidden due to the straw hats they were wearing, approached the village. Upon getting closer, they noticed the damage done to it.

"Looks like your old home hasn't been doing well," laughed the taller figure.

"Hn," grunted the shorter figure. "Stay focused. Remember our mission."

The taller figure let out a sinister laugh as they entered the village. Luckily for them because everyone was busy with repairs, they could just walk in without being stopped. They soon came upon a small teashop and decided to stop for a drink. While there, they over heard a conversation between three Jonin. It seemed that their objective was no longer in the village.

Paying for their tea, the two figures stood and made their way out of the village. They only made it as far as a small river though as they were stopped by Asuma and Kurenai.

"Something about our conversation must have been very important to you if you want to leave so soon," said Asuma.

"Hehehe, you could say something like that," said the taller figure as he reached for his hat.

The two figures took off their hats to reveal themselves. The taller one was very strange looking, with blue skin and shark-like appearance. The other one looked like an older version of Sasuke and even had the Sharingan.

"Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi," stated Asuma with a frown.

"You hear that, Itachi? They've heard of us!" laughed Kisame with a sharp-toothed grin. "I say we kill them."

No more words were spoken as the battle commenced. Asuma drew his trench knives to try and combat Kisame, but unfortunately the former Kirigakure shinobi was much stronger. It also didn't help that his blade was somehow able to absorb Asuma's chakra. Kurenai wasn't doing any better with Itachi as the Uchiha nullified every genjutsu she used. The battle was short-lived as Asuma and Kurenai were vastly outclassed.

"It seems the skill of the shinobi have changed since I was last here," stated Itachi, his face emotionless.

"This is getting boring, Itachi. Let's just finish these weaklings off and find the Yondaime's Legacy!" exclaimed Kisame as he raised his sword.

Before the shark man could do anything though, Kakashi appeared and got Kurenai and Asuma out of the way.

"Sorry I'm a little late," said the scarecrow. "I had some business to take care of real quick."

Kisame gave off a shark-like grin. "Looks like I've found another toy to play with. It's going to be fun killing you."

Just as Kisame stepped forward though, Itachi held him back.

"You won't be able to fight Kakashi head on without getting injured, Kisame," stated the Uchiha as he stepped forward. "I shall be the one to fight him. You finish off the other two."

Kisame grinned once more as he turned to the other two Jonin. Once again though he was interrupted when Mei appeared in front of him.

"What the hell?! What are you doing here?!" demanded Kisame, surprised to see the redheaded woman.

"That is none of your business, Kisame," said Mei with a frown. "But since we are in the same vicinity, it only makes sense that I will be the one to kill you. You are Kirigakure's responsibility after all."

Kisame let out a roar as he charged forward, wanting to slice the woman in half. She was faster though and was able to dodge the swing of his blade. She then blew out a stream of vapor, hoping to corrode Kisame's weapon. Just like Mei though, Kisame was able to dodge…barely as the edge of his cloak was hit.

"Insolent bitch! I'm going to kill you!" exclaimed the shark with a glare.

It was then that a scream of immense pain shot through the air. Everyone turned to the source to see Kakashi collapse into the water.

"Kakashi!" called out Kurenai, worried for her friend.

"Hehehehe, it looks like Itachi won. Time for you weaklings to meet the same fate as your friend!" laughed Kisame.

Kisame would have pulled off his threat if it hadn't been for the timely arrival of Maito Gai, who had kicked Kisame away.

"Maito Gai to the rescue!" exclaimed the "youthful" Jonin with a nice guy pose.

"About time you got here, Gai," muttered Asuma. "We need to get Kakashi out of here now."

"You won't be doing anything!" snarled Kisame. Itachi once again held him back when the Uchiha spoke up.

"This battle has gone on long enough, Kisame, and we were not here for this. We must take our leave now!"

Kisame let out a growl, angry that he wasn't going to kill anyone right now, but heeded Itachi's orders. Mei and the Konoha Jonin were about to stop them, but were too slow as the two nukenin vanished.

"Damn it. They got away!" said Asuma with a growl.

"There's nothing we can do about that, Asuma," said Kurenai. "We need to get Kakashi to the hospital!"

"Right. Gai, can you carry Kakashi?" questioned Asuma.

"Of course!"

Gai quickly went over to Kakashi and gently hefted the scarecrow over his shoulder. With Kakashi secured, the four went to the hospital as fast as they could.

-:-

With Naruto, he, Jiraiya, and Chojuro were making their way to a post-station a short distance away from the village. While making their way there, Naruto was having a mental conversation with the Kyubi.

"_Oi, Kyubi!"_

"**What do you want, Kit?"**

"_When we fought Shukaku and transformed into you, he called you Kurama. Why'd he call you that?"_

The Kyubi let out a growl that sounded almost as if he was cursing the sand tanuki. **"It's none of your business, Kit."**

The blond gave off a mental pout. _"That's not fair! I want to know why he called you Kurama! Is that your real name? If it is, why didn't you tell me? I would have called you that instead of Kyubi or furball."_

"…**You're not going to let this go, are you?"**

"_Nope!"_

Letting out another growl, Kyubi relented. **"Hai, my name is indeed Kurama. The only reason I hadn't told you was because I hadn't fully trusted you yet. All of the Biju have real names, but we won't reveal them to just anyone. I'm also not going to tell you those names. That's for them to decide on whether or not to reveal them."**

"_How come Shukaku's name is known by everyone then?"_

"**Because he's an arrogant little shit who wants people to fear him. Now no more questions. That pervert you call a sensei is speaking."**

"Alright you two! We'll be stopping at a nearby post-station for a little bit."

"Ne, Ero-sennin! Think we could get some ramen while we're here?"

"I was actually hoping we could get something else to eat, Naruto. I don't really care much for oily foods," said Chojuro as he rubbed the back of his head.

The young blond though tilted his head in confusion. "Then how come you're always at Ichiraku Ramen if you don't like oily food?"

The swordsman gained a slight blush. "Well I…that is to say…"

A sly smile crept onto Naruto's face when he saw the blush and how nervous Chojuro looked. "You have a crush on Ayame-neechan, don't you?"

"N-Nani?! N-No! That's not it!" denied Chojuro, but he wasn't fooling anyone.

Jiraiya had to hold back his laughter as he listened to Naruto tease Chojuro about his crush on the ramen girl, while the swordsman kept denying it. The two really acted a lot like brothers.

'_Bet Mei would get a kick out of that,'_ thought the sage with a smirk as the three enter the small town.

-:-

Back in Konoha, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, and Mei were in Kakashi's hospital room. While Kakashi was in a coma due to Itachi's technique, they were discussing why Itachi had come back to Konoha in the first place.

"It just doesn't make sense. There's nothing here for Itachi after what he did all those years ago," said Kurenai.

"I have to agree. What could possess Itachi to risk his life by returning to the village that has condemned him?" questioned Gai as he crossed his arms.

"More importantly, why would he join forces with Hoshigaki Kisame of all people?" wondered Mei.

"They were wearing the same style of robes. Could it be possible that they joined an unknown village?"

Asuma turned to Kurenai. "Doubtful. Though I think I know why they were here."

"Then speak up, Asuma! What could they possibly want!" exclaimed Gai.

The chain smoker let out a sigh. Leave it to Gai to be loud even in a hospital. "It's not **what **they want, but **who** they want and I get the feeling they want Naruto."

Mei became tense at that. "Naruto? What makes you think it is Naruto that they want?"

"Before you arrived Kisame mentioned something about finding the Yondaime's Legacy. After he died, the Yondaime unfortunately became well known for one thing amongst the village," explained Asuma.

"The sealing of the Kyubi!" gasped Kurenai.

"Exactly. Because of that, they are looking for Naruto," finished the former Guardian.

As they were discussing this, many thoughts ran through Mei's head. Most thoughts were of running after Naruto and keeping him safe in her arms. Other thoughts were of melting Itachi and Kisame for even thinking they could harm her nephew. She was about to say something when Asuma finished his explanation, but was interrupted when the door opened to reveal Sasuke.

"What happened to Kakashi?" questioned the young Uchiha. "I had heard that he was put in hospital, but no one knows why. What happened?"

"He was sparring with Gai and Gai went a little overboard," replied Asuma, the lie coming easily. There was no way he was going to let Sasuke learn that Itachi was here.

"It's true! Oh Kakashi, I'm so sorry!" cried Gai, getting in on the lie. This of course made Asuma, Kurenai, and Mei sweatdrop.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Something didn't feel right. He was about to call them out on it when one Yamashiro Aoba burst into the room.

"Is it true that Itachi had returned and was looking for Naruto?!" questioned the Jonin, looking worried.

It was silent. The other Jonin and Mei gave Aoba exasperated looks at his screw up. Aoba wondered why they were giving him that look, but when he noticed Sasuke in the room, it all made sense. Speaking of Sasuke, he went stiff as a board at the mention of Itachi.

"What do you mean Itachi is looking for Naruto?" demanded the Uchiha as he glared at the Jonin.

Before Aoba could come up with a lie, Sasuke bolted out of the room.

"Way to go, Aoba," muttered Asuma.

"You make it sound like I did that on purpose!"

With Sasuke, he was running around the village looking for Naruto, knowing that if he found him he'd find Itachi. Going to Naruto's apartment first, he found that the blond wasn't there, which meant he was most likely at the ramen shop. Heading to Ichiraku Ramen, Sasuke found that Naruto wasn't there either, but learned that Naruto had mentioned that he was leaving the village with Jiraiya. Not even thinking about the consequences, Sasuke left and ran out of the village in hopes of catching up with Itachi before he could lose him.

-:-

Back with Naruto's group, they arrived in the small village and made their way to a nearby hotel. As Jiraiya was signing them in, a very beautiful lady walked by and garnered his attention.

"Don't even think about it, Ero-sennin! You're supposed to be teaching me a new jutsu remember?" exclaimed Naruto as he glared at the old man.

"Quiet, gaki! I'm not passing this up. Besides, I can't teach you the jutsu until you have better chakra control. So go to the hotel room and practice molding your chakra. I've got a date!" said Jiraiya, a perverted grin on his face as he said the last part.

The young blond's eye twitched in annoyance as Jiraiya walked off with the woman. "Stupid Ero-sennin."

"Don't worry, Naruto. If you need help, I can help you," said Chojuro, gaining the boy's attention.

"Really?" questioned Naruto. When Chojuro nodded, Naruto was ecstatic. "Yatta! Let's get started then!"

Naruto grabbed the room key and started to drag the swordsman to the room. When they got there, Naruto wasted no time in starting his training. He had some trouble due to his poor chakra control combined with his immense chakra pool, but Chojuro was able to help him with what he could.

'_It's amazing how such a young boy has so much chakra. Then again he is a jinchuriki. It might take a long time for him to truly control his chakra'_ thought Chojuro as he continued to give tips.

This went on for an hour or so until there was a knock at the door.

"Must be Ero-sennin. Damn pervert must have forgot that he didn't have a key," said Naruto as he made his way towards the door.

Opening the door, Naruto was greeted not by the Toad Sage but by a pair of blood red eyes.

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

Naruto wasn't sure whom this guy was, but by how Kurama was growling within the seal, this man must have been bad news.

"Naruto! Get out of the way!"

Doing what he was told, Naruto quickly dodged as Chojuro swung the Hiramekarei. The blade crashed through the wall and sliced through Itachi, only to reveal that the Itachi was a fake. Both Chojuro and Naruto then entered the hallway to confront the Uchiha.

"This is a surprise. Didn't think I'd see that blade here," said Kisame with a grin as he came into view.

Chojuro's eyes widened as he saw the shark man. "Hoshigaki Kisame?"

"Who's that?" questioned Naruto as he got on guard.

"A former shinobi of Kirigakure and wielder of the Samehada, one of the seven swords used by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," explained Chojuro as he glared at Kisame. "Why are you here, Kisame?"

Kisame's grin became a little wider. "I'm here for that brat standing next to you, but I guess I could indulge in fighting you. I can find out if you're worthy of having that blade, you little weakling."

Chojuro didn't have a chance to reply as Kisame came at him. Chojuro cursed at this because as swords clashed, Naruto was left to deal with Itachi.

"What do you guys want with me?" demanded Naruto, glaring at the emotionless Uchiha.

"I'm sure you can figure it out on your own, Naruto-kun," replied Itachi.

"**Be careful, Kit. This man has the Sharingan," **stated Kurama with a growl.

"_Sharingan? So this guy is related to Sasuke?"_

"**Probably, but this guy is much stronger."**

"Itachi!"

The sudden shout caught everyone's attention. They all turned to the source to see Sasuke, glaring hatefully at Itachi.

"Oi, Itachi! Who's this kid?" questioned Kisame.

Itachi kept his eyes on Sasuke. "He's my younger brother."

No more was said as Sasuke activated his Chidori. "Itachi, I've lived my life like you told me to: I've resented you, and hated you, and now I am going to kill you!"

Charging forward, Sasuke planned on killing Itachi with one blow. Unfortunately for him, Itachi was vastly superior to him and was able to catch his wrist.

"Foolish little brother. You still have a long way to go if you wish to kill me."

With that, a loud crack echoed through the hall, followed by Sasuke's wails of pain from having his wrist broken.

"Sasuke!" called out Naruto.

"Hehehe, nice going, Itachi. Guess while you handle your brother, I get to play with these two," stated Kisame as he turned back to Naruto and Chojuro.

Chojuro though was exhausted. Being one of the Seven Swordsmen, he knew of Samehada's powers and he was definitely feeling the effects after battling Kisame. He had to finish this now and protect Naruto with everything he had.

'_I won't let Mei-sama down! I will defeat Kisame and protect Naruto with my life!'_

He got ready to defend and fight, but as he tried to stand Chojuro fell back on his knee. Kisame took this chance to finish off the boy and was about to bring down Samehada.

'_No! It can't end like this!'_

His attack though was suddenly blocked by the arrival of a large orange toad.

'_What just happened?'_ wondered Chojuro.

"What the hell is this?!" demanded Kisame with a growl.

"You thought you could hold me off with such a simple genjutsu?" questioned a voice Naruto knew very well. "You can't get anything past the Great Gallant Jiraiya!"

Naruto, Chojuro, and Kisame look over to the source to see Jiraiya standing at the other side of the hall with the woman he met earlier passed out over his shoulder.

"J-Jiraiya-sama," muttered Chojuro.

"Oi, Naruto. Keep an eye on Chojuro while I take care of this overgrown fish," stated Jiraiya with an air of seriousness.

Naruto didn't have time to argue as Jiraiya and Kisame began to fight. On the other side of the hallway, Itachi was beating Sasuke severely.

"It was foolish of you to come here, Sasuke," stated Itachi. _'Especially since I know you came here without permission. What were you thinking?!'_

"I n-needed to avenge my family!" panted Sasuke, his body in a lot of pain.

"…I think you need to see that you are still no match for me."

Itachi's Sharingan changed in appearance, to that of a three-point pinwheel. The next thing Sasuke knew was that he was reliving the massacre of the Uchiha Clan over and over. The younger Uchiha cried out in pain and horror as the mental torture was becoming too much for him.

Jiraiya, seeing what was going on, decided to end this. **"Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari!"**

After doing the necessary hand signs, Jiraiya slammed his hand down on the ground to activate the summoning. Unlike other summonings though, this one didn't summon an animal but changed the scenery around them. The walls became fleshy and organic. What's more was that Sasuke was absorbed into the wall, no longer in Itachi's grasp.

"What the hell is this?" questioned Kisame. He swung Samehada, thinking he could cut whatever this was, but soon found his blade stuck in the flesh and starting to get absorbed. "Oi! Let go!"

Jiraiya let out a few chuckles. "It won't do you any good. We're inside the esophagus of a great fire-breathing toad. Soon you'll be nothing but lunch for him."

Itachi looked back at Jiraiya and then towards Kisame, who was finally able to dislodge Samehada. "Kisame, we must take our leave."

The shark man let out a growl, not wanting to leave, but knew better than to argue with Itachi. The two nukenin regrouped and made their escape, with Jiraiya, Naruto, and Chojuro trying to follow.

The three turned the corner where Itachi and Kisame were sure to be, but only found a large hole in the wall with flames black as coal on the edges.

"What the?! How did they escape?!" questioned Naruto.

"Not sure, but I think it has something to do with these flames," said Jiraiya as he stepped closer to the hole. The Toad Sage took out a scroll and opened it. On the scroll was a seal for fire, which he used to actually seal away the black flames. "I'll need to study these flames to find out what exactly they are."

With that done, the three made their way to Sasuke, where Jiraiya released the summoning to dislodge the boy.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" questioned Chojuro.

"…To be honest, it's doubtful. From what I do know about the Sharingan, Itachi must have used a technique known as Tsukuyomi. It's a very powerful genjutsu that can break even the most strong-willed minds," explained Jiraiya, a grim look on his face.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Naruto, worried about his teammate.

"All we can do is find Tsunade. She might be the only one who can heal the damage done."

"Then let's get moving!" exclaimed the blond with much gusto.

Nodding in agreement, Jiraiya told Chojuro to carry the Uchiha. He then turned to lead the group out of the hotel…only to receive a kick to the face that sent him flying into the opposite wall. Chojuro and Naruto stood there stunned by what happened and was shaken out of it when a boisterous voice started yelling.

"Take that, Itachi! I, Maito Gai, am here to stop you!"

Naruto and Chojuro gave the man in green blank looks as the Jonin did his "nice guy pose". Jiraiya on the other hand glared and wished death on the man.

"Do I look like Itachi, Gai?!" demanded Jiraiya, his voice rising up a few notches on the decibel meter.

"Ah, Jiraiya-sama! It's good to see you again!" exclaimed Gai. "Where are Itachi and that other ninja?"

"They escaped long before you got here," growled Jiraiya. "What are you doing here any way?!"

"Well…"

The group made their way to the village entrance as Gai explained what was going on.

"So Kakashi is in a coma and that brat found out about Itachi and came here to fight him like a fool, huh?"

"That is correct, Jiraiya-sama! I was sent to retrieve Sasuke and return him to the village ASAP!"

Naruto clenched his fists in anger. "So not only did that teme hurt Sasuke with that genjutsu, but he also got Kakashi-sensei as well? Next time I see him I'm kicking his ass!"

"Train hard and I'm sure you'll be able to do it, Naruto-kun! In fact, I have something that might help you!"

Gai, who currently had the comatose Sasuke on his back, reached into his weapon pouch and pulled out something that made Naruto, Chojuro, and Jiraiya just stop and stare. It was a bright green one-piece spandex suit similar to what he and Lee wear.

"…Gai, what the hell is wrong with you?" questioned Jiraiya.

"And I thought there were some weird people in Kirigakure," muttered Chojuro.

"I'm going to have to pass, Gai-sensei. Besides, I prefer wearing orange over green," said Naruto.

"I see. Ah well! Until next time I guess!" exclaimed Gai with a gleaming smile. He then turned towards the direction of Konohagakure. "Good luck in your search you three!"

With that, the "youthful" Jonin dashed off, leaving behind the others. They then turned to head off to the next town. As they walked, Naruto had a question that he wanted answers for.

"Ne, Ero-sennin, who exactly were those two?"

"…They were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, Naruto. Both of them are a part of a group known as the Akatsuki."

"What's the Akatsuki, Jiraiya-sama?" asked Chojuro.

"They're a group of S-rank nukenin whose sole goal is to collect the Biju."

That made Naruto stop in his tracks. "N-Nani?! You mean they were after me because of the fox?!"

"Unfortunately," replied Jiraiya.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "So Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke got hurt because of me?"

"Naruto…" started Chojuro, but stopped when Naruto looked up with a look of determination.

"Then I know what I've got to do. I'm going to get stronger so I can protect everyone precious to me! I won't let anyone else get hurt because of me again!"

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile at Naruto's declaration. _'So much like his parents.'_

Chojuro couldn't help but smile as well. "You won't be the only one getting stronger, Naruto. After that fight with Kisame, I've realized that I have a long way to go as one of the Seven Swordsmen. If I want to defeat him and win back the Samehada, I'll have to become stronger too!"

Naruto gave him a fox-like grin. "Then let's train hard and show everyone what we're made of!"

The two vowed to train hard and become stronger while on this trip. Jiraiya could only shake his head in amusement.

"Alright you two! Enough wasting time! We need to get going if we're going to find Tsunade," said Jiraiya.

Nodding their heads in agreement, Naruto and Chojuro fell in step with Jiraiya as the three of them continued onward to their next destination.

**CHAPTER END**

**-:-**

**Sorry that it took so long to update and sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the others. I usually try to keep chapters at around 5,000 to 6,000 words, but I felt that the Itachi introduction should be a separate chapter from the rest of the Search for Tsunade Arc.**

**In this chapter we got a little bit of character development for Chojuro. I am hoping I can give more for him in future chapters and have hime fight Kisame again as well.**

**Translations:**

**Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari – Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind**


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